SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Immigration Court is set to permanently close, according to a May 1 memo issued by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), an agency within the Department of Justice (DOJ) that oversees immigration courts.
“It would be more cost effective to relocate its court operations at 100 Montgomery Street to the nearby Concord Immigration Court,” the memo states.
The court’s smaller location at 630 Sansome Street, which handles cases of people who have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will continue operating until Sept. 4 and will then become a hearing location administered by the Concord court.
The San Francisco court formerly was an immigration hub with around 20 judges and a nearly 71 percent grant rate for asylum and other relief, much higher than the 47.9 percent nationwide. It now has two judges remaining….