EOIR Swears in Six New Members of the Board of Immigration Appeals

Introduction

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) held an investiture ceremony on August 23, 2019, to inaugurate six new members of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). All six new Board members were appointed by U.S. Attorney General William Barr. during this post, we'll list the new Board members and include biographical information on each from their profiles within the EOIR notice [PDF version].

Please see our index article for all of our posts on new immigration judges and BIA members [see index]. one among our posts includes the investiture of latest member s Goodwin and Gorman as immigration judges in 2017 [see blog].

New BIA Members

The following are profiles on the six new BIA members.

William A Cassidy, member
1993-2019: Immigration Judge appointed by former Attorney General Janet Reno (New York, ny 1993-96; Atlanta, Georgia 1996-2019)
1992-1993: Private practice
1987-1992: General attorney and director of coaching at the previous Immigration and Naturalization Service
1981-1987: Local prosecutor

Juris Doctorate from John Marshall/Cleveland State University in 1980

Board Member William Cassidy served as an immigration judge for 26 years, giving him the foremost experience on the immigration bench of the six new Board members. He had previously worked as a lawyer for the previous Immigration and Naturalization Service for five years.

V. Stuart Couch, member

2010-2019: Immigration Judge appointed by former Attorney General Eric Holder (Charlotte, North Carolina)
2009-2010: Private practice
2006-2009: Senior appellate judge on the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals within the District of Columbia
2003-2006: Assigned to the Department of Defense, Office of Military Commissions as a senior prosecutor for select detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
2001-2003: Chief trial counsel and military justice officer for Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
1999-2001: Local prosecutor
1996-1999: Chief trial counsel and special assistant U.S. attorney at United States Marine Corps air base , Cherry Point North Carolina
1989-1993: United States Marine Corps pilot
Juris Doctor from Campbell University in 1996

Board Member V. Stuart Couch spent the previous nine years as an immigration judge at the Charlotte Immigration Court. Most of his prior experience came as a military judge and lawyer, including stints as a military appellate judge and as a prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay.

Deborah K. Goodwin, member

2017-2019: Immigration judge appointed by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch (Miami, Florida)
2015-2017: Associate legal advisor for the District Court Litigation Division, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security , within the District of Columbia
2007-2015: Associate counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security , in San Francisco
2002-2007: Assistant chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security (and former Immigration and Naturalization Service) in San Francisco
Juris Doctor from the State University of latest York at Buffalo School of Law in 2000

Board Member Deborah K. Goodwin's experience comes primarily from her work as an attorney for several immigration components of the Department of Homeland Security from 2002-2017. before being selected as a member , she served a two-year stint as an immigration judge at the Miami Immigration Court.

Stephane E. Gorman, member

2017-2019: Immigration judge appointed by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch (Houston, Texas)
2014-2017: Attorney and legal instructor at the Federal enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia, for the Office of Chief Counsel, Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security
2008-2014: Assistant chief counsel for the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security
2009-2012: Special assistant U.S. attorney for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida, Department of Justice, in Orlando, Florida
2007-2008: Judicial law clerk for Judge M. James Lorenz of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, San Diego
2007-2007: Judicial law clerk for Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, San Diego
2006-2007: Local prosecutor
2003-2006: Various capacities at the Jefferson School of Law
Juris Doctor from the Jefferson School of Law in 2002, Master of Laws from the University of San Diego School of Law

Board Member Gorman worked as an attorney in various capacities for the immigration components of the Department of Homeland Security for nearly a decade before beginning her short stint as an immigration judge on the Houston Immigration Court. additionally to her experience with immigration agencies, she has worked briefly as a prosecutor, Federal judicial law clerk, and law professor.

Keith E. Hunsucker, member

2010-2019: Immigration judge appointed by former Attorney General Eric Holder (2017-2019 Cleveland, Ohio; 2010-2017 Port Isabel, Texas)
2000-2010: Senior instructor for the Federal enforcement Training Center, Legal Division, Department of Homeland Security , in Glynco, Georgia
1992-2000: Attorney for the previous Immigration and Naturalization Service in Atlanta
1989-1992: Attorney for the previous Immigration and Naturalization Service in Harlingen, Texas
1989-1989: Judicial law clerk for the Ohio Court of Appeals, 9th Judicial District
1988-1989: Private practice
1987-1988: Attorney for the previous Immigration and Naturalization Service within the Attorney General's Honors Program, in San Francisco
Juris Doctorate from the University of Akron School of Law in 1987

Board Member Hunsucker has over three decades of experience as an immigration judge and lawyer in various capacities within the Department of Homeland Security and former Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Earle B. Wilson, Board Member

2005-2019: Immigration judge appointed by former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (Atlanta, Georgia 2010-2019; Orlando, Florida 2007-2010; Miami, Florida 2005-2007)
1998-2004: Senior litigation counsel and trial lawyer with the Office of Immigration Litigation, Department of Justice, within the District of Columbia
1996-1998: Assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland
1992-1996: Senior counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission within the District of Columbia
1990-1992: Private practice
1989-1990: Judicial law clerk to guage Joseph W. Hatchett of the us Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Tallahassee, Florida
Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law in 1989

Prior to his 14-year stint as an immigration judge, member Wilson had a spread of experience in legal capacities, including serving as a Federal prosecutor and attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission. he's the sole new member to possess clerked for a Federal appellate judge.

Conclusion

The BIA hears appeals from immigration courts across the country and issues variety of important precedential decisions per annum [see index]. For this reason, the new Board Members are going to be important to the interpretation of the immigration laws for years to return . All six have served previously as immigration judges, and most have extensive prior experience with the varied immigration components of the federal .