James McHenry named head of Immigration Review office

One the nation’s critical immigration offices has a new head, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

James McHenry was named the permanent director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review. He had been serving as the EOIR’s acting director since May 30.

The EOIR, a Justice Department office, was created in 1983 and oversees the 59 immigration courts throughout the United States through the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge.

It conducts removal proceedings to determine if an immigrant should remain in the United States. The Board of Immigration Appeals, which hears appeals from immigration courts, is part of EOIR.

Between February 1, and July 31 last year, the EOIR’s judges issued 49,983 removal orders for people in the country illegally.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Mr. McHenry is an “exceptionally talented and capable leader.”

“Since his appointment as acting director last May, James has led EOIR in restoring its commitment to the timely and efficient adjudication of immigration cases, and identifying additional common-sense improvements to the immigration court system,” Mr. Sessions said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

Mr. McHenry previously served in the Executive Office for Immigration Review. In 2016, he was appointed an administrative law judge for EOIR’s Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer. Last year, he served as Deputy Associate Attorney General, working on a variety of immigration-related matters, the Justice Department said. From 2014 to 2016, he was an administrative law judge for the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review.

“Under Attorney General Sessions’ leadership, EOIR has implemented a series of sensible reforms that aim to reduce the pending caseload by realigning the agency towards completing cases, increasing both productivity and capacity, and changing policies that lead to inefficiencies and waste,” Mr. McHenry said in a statement. “I look forward to building on the success of last year and further realizing our goal of cutting the pending caseload in half by 2020.”