You filed a case for asylum and you appeared for your asylum interview. Although you seemed optimistic about the results, when you picked up your decision, you found out that your case was transferred to immigration court. When a case is transferred to immigration court, a person receives a Notice to Appear (NTA). DHS will issue a Notice to Appear and if you live within the jurisdiction of the New York City Immigration Court, you will be commanded to appear at the Immigration Court located at 26 Federal Plaza, New York, NY. If you live within the jurisdiction at the Newark Immigration Court, you will be commanded to appear at the Immigration Court located at 970 Broad Street, Newark, NJ. Statistics show that the majority of cases heard by the asylum office in Bethpage, NY or at the asylum office at Lyndhurst, NJ, are transferred to the immigration court. You will have an opportunity to present your asylum case in front of an immigration judge in New York City or an immigration judge in Newark, NJ (if you live within those courts’ jurisdictions). Unlike your experience at the asylum office in the Department of Homeland Security, your experience in immigration court will be entirely different. In the immigration court, immigration court rules will apply. You should find experienced and competent representation through an experienced immigration lawyer serving New York City and/or an immigration lawyer serving Newark, NJ. The decisions you make very early on after receipt of the Notice to Appear will likely be one of the most important decisions in your life. Despite what you have heard out there and despite what you may have heard about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement, our immigration courts will provide you with a fair opportunity to present your case. Although hiring an experienced immigration lawyer includes financial costs, consider these costs an investment in your future. Make no mistake about it, if proper decisions are not made early on, fixing any mistakes (presuming they are even fixable) will be a lot more costly
