Title 8Aliens and NationalityRelease 119-73

§1532 Establishment of removal court

Title 8 › Chapter CHAPTER 12— - IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER V— - ALIEN TERRORIST REMOVAL PROCEDURES › § 1532

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Chief Justice must publicly pick five district court judges from five different federal judicial circuits to form a court that handles all removal proceedings. Each judge serves a five-year term and can be picked again. For the first group, the terms are staggered so one judge serves 1 year, one 2 years, one 3 years, and one 4 years (the fifth serves 5 years). The Chief Justice must also publicly pick one of those judges to be the chief judge. The chief judge must make rules for how the court works and decide which judges hear each case. The same rules that apply under FISA section 103(c) apply here. The court must also set up a panel of lawyers who have security clearances and who agree to represent permanent resident aliens in cases involving classified information under section 1534(e)(3); those lawyers are subject to the penalties in this subchapter.

Full Legal Text

Title 8, §1532

Aliens and Nationality — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Chief Justice of the United States shall publicly designate 5 district court judges from 5 of the United States judicial circuits who shall constitute a court that shall have jurisdiction to conduct all removal proceedings. The Chief Justice may, in the Chief Justice’s discretion, designate the same judges under this section as are designated pursuant to section 103(a) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803(a)).
(b)Each judge designated under subsection (a) shall serve for a term of 5 years and shall be eligible for redesignation, except that of the members first designated—
(1)1 member shall serve for a term of 1 year;
(2)1 member shall serve for a term of 2 years;
(3)1 member shall serve for a term of 3 years; and
(4)1 member shall serve for a term of 4 years.
(c)(1)The Chief Justice shall publicly designate one of the judges of the removal court to be the chief judge of the removal court.
(2)The chief judge shall—
(A)promulgate rules to facilitate the functioning of the removal court; and
(B)assign the consideration of cases to the various judges on the removal court.
(d)The provisions of section 103(c) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1803(c)) shall apply to removal proceedings in the same manner as they apply to proceedings under that Act [50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.].
(e)The removal court shall provide for the designation of a panel of attorneys each of whom—
(1)has a security clearance which affords the attorney access to classified information, and
(2)has agreed to represent permanent resident aliens with respect to classified information under section 1534(e)(3) of this title in accordance with (and subject to the penalties under) this subchapter.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, referred to in subsec. (d), is Pub. L. 95–511, Oct. 25, 1978, 92 Stat. 1783, which is classified principally to chapter 36 (§ 1801 et seq.) of Title 50, War and National Defense. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1801 of Title 50 and Tables.

Amendments

1996—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104–208 added subsec. (e).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1996 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 104–208 effective as if included in the enactment of subtitle A of title IV of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104–132, see section 358 of Pub. L. 104–208, set out as a note under section 1182 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

8 U.S.C. § 1532

Title 8Aliens and Nationality

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73