Matthew Hoppock
@hoppock.bsky.social
FOIA and Immigration Law and dumb jokes.
The bigger concern is chain refoulement, looks like a feature more than a bug. The US sends migrant to a third country where the person knows nobody, and that country sends them to their home country where they'll be killed. Guatemala specifically said as much in its denial of having signed an ACA.
November 26, 2025 at 8:24 PM
The bigger concern is chain refoulement, looks like a feature more than a bug. The US sends migrant to a third country where the person knows nobody, and that country sends them to their home country where they'll be killed. Guatemala specifically said as much in its denial of having signed an ACA.
The whole premise is silly. Guatemala has the capacity for a few thousand asylum seekers a year (not that they're doing it well, but that's their capacity). There are hundreds of thousands of Central Americans who could be deported to Guatemala under the guise of having to first seek asylum there.
November 26, 2025 at 8:22 PM
The whole premise is silly. Guatemala has the capacity for a few thousand asylum seekers a year (not that they're doing it well, but that's their capacity). There are hundreds of thousands of Central Americans who could be deported to Guatemala under the guise of having to first seek asylum there.
Here's what DHS is claiming is our agreement with Guatemala. It's not signed by anyone. And the highlighted part states pretty explicitly that this is not an agreement yet (although it could be later if the terms are agreed on).
November 26, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Here's what DHS is claiming is our agreement with Guatemala. It's not signed by anyone. And the highlighted part states pretty explicitly that this is not an agreement yet (although it could be later if the terms are agreed on).
Has there been any reporting on whether the Asylum Cooperative Agreements the US claims to have entered into with Guatemala and Honduras actually exist? In June Noeam claimed both had agreed to accept asylum seekers from the US. But both denied it. 🧵 apnews.com/article/guat...
November 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Has there been any reporting on whether the Asylum Cooperative Agreements the US claims to have entered into with Guatemala and Honduras actually exist? In June Noeam claimed both had agreed to accept asylum seekers from the US. But both denied it. 🧵 apnews.com/article/guat...
Followup on my last skeet, here's a little explainer on why the DOJ's "Deportation Judge" page is so stupidly coded.
Since the early 1990s the norm has been for images on websites to link (tag <a href=) to the file offsite. It uses very little code & loads fast.
They did this instead:
Since the early 1990s the norm has been for images on websites to link (tag <a href=) to the file offsite. It uses very little code & loads fast.
They did this instead:
November 24, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Followup on my last skeet, here's a little explainer on why the DOJ's "Deportation Judge" page is so stupidly coded.
Since the early 1990s the norm has been for images on websites to link (tag <a href=) to the file offsite. It uses very little code & loads fast.
They did this instead:
Since the early 1990s the norm has been for images on websites to link (tag <a href=) to the file offsite. It uses very little code & loads fast.
They did this instead:
So if the DOJ’s ‘Become a Deportation Judge’ page won’t load on your phone, here’s why: they Base64-encoded multi-megabyte images directly into the HTML. Nothing says ‘tech savvy’ like shipping a 7-million-character <img> tag.
November 24, 2025 at 3:06 PM
So if the DOJ’s ‘Become a Deportation Judge’ page won’t load on your phone, here’s why: they Base64-encoded multi-megabyte images directly into the HTML. Nothing says ‘tech savvy’ like shipping a 7-million-character <img> tag.
If you said zero, you are correct. No mention of the government's campaign to eradicate LGBTQ folks from existence. So if you're applying for asylum from Uganda and are gay, you're gonna have to prove that this "inherently reliable" report is wrong - or you get deported. A complete failure.
August 13, 2025 at 3:15 PM
If you said zero, you are correct. No mention of the government's campaign to eradicate LGBTQ folks from existence. So if you're applying for asylum from Uganda and are gay, you're gonna have to prove that this "inherently reliable" report is wrong - or you get deported. A complete failure.
Uganda is one of the worst places in the world to be gay. Here's the summary from the last year's report - they lead off with Uganda's use of the death penalty for gay folks. How many words do you think are spent on that in this year's report?
August 13, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Uganda is one of the worst places in the world to be gay. Here's the summary from the last year's report - they lead off with Uganda's use of the death penalty for gay folks. How many words do you think are spent on that in this year's report?
lol at the Whitehouse spokesperson responding to my comments on stripping Rosie O'Donnell of her citizenship by only pointing out that I've donated to Democrats. My dude. Get a better spokesperson, there's so much better material on me. www.cnn.com/2025/07/18/u...
July 19, 2025 at 12:53 AM
lol at the Whitehouse spokesperson responding to my comments on stripping Rosie O'Donnell of her citizenship by only pointing out that I've donated to Democrats. My dude. Get a better spokesperson, there's so much better material on me. www.cnn.com/2025/07/18/u...
In Denver talking with immigration buddies about denaturalization.
June 20, 2025 at 7:39 PM
In Denver talking with immigration buddies about denaturalization.
According to the Board's own statistics, the Biden admin had increased BIA appeal processing pretty substantially. 44,785 appeals completed in 2024 was the highest annual completion rate in a decade. That's due, in part, to Biden expanding the Board and filling vacant seats.
June 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
According to the Board's own statistics, the Biden admin had increased BIA appeal processing pretty substantially. 44,785 appeals completed in 2024 was the highest annual completion rate in a decade. That's due, in part, to Biden expanding the Board and filling vacant seats.
How does this person attend their immigration court hearing? And if they don't go in person, where do they go? There's no website listed. There is no IJ or courtroom listed. I guess it's TBD, and we'll surely figure it out before trial. But if this person isn't represented, what do they do?
June 10, 2025 at 7:32 PM
How does this person attend their immigration court hearing? And if they don't go in person, where do they go? There's no website listed. There is no IJ or courtroom listed. I guess it's TBD, and we'll surely figure it out before trial. But if this person isn't represented, what do they do?
The redactions are pretty heavy-handed, so I can't tell from most of these what's actually being said. But here's an exchange workshopping a response to reporter Seth Wexler.
June 9, 2025 at 7:48 PM
The redactions are pretty heavy-handed, so I can't tell from most of these what's actually being said. But here's an exchange workshopping a response to reporter Seth Wexler.
I was previously unaware of this meeting, but I'm now going to try to FOIA for materials from it. Should have them in about five years 🥲
June 9, 2025 at 7:43 PM
I was previously unaware of this meeting, but I'm now going to try to FOIA for materials from it. Should have them in about five years 🥲
What does it mean when a federal officer responds to your email and just writes "O"? I seriously don't know. I am not sure I have ever seen that before.
June 9, 2025 at 7:38 PM
What does it mean when a federal officer responds to your email and just writes "O"? I seriously don't know. I am not sure I have ever seen that before.
So, several officials gave interviews last time saying that there were going to be "thousands" of denaturalization cases from these programs. That seems to have been false. This document says that there were only 1,029 Operation Janus cases where the person naturalized after a prior removal order.
June 9, 2025 at 7:37 PM
So, several officials gave interviews last time saying that there were going to be "thousands" of denaturalization cases from these programs. That seems to have been false. This document says that there were only 1,029 Operation Janus cases where the person naturalized after a prior removal order.
Most of these are media coordination. They include this background report. Note - we sued them over a series of similar records a few years ago, and this wasn't produced at the time (might be a date range issue). But it has some new information about Operation Janus and Operation Second Look.
June 9, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Most of these are media coordination. They include this background report. Note - we sued them over a series of similar records a few years ago, and this wasn't produced at the time (might be a date range issue). But it has some new information about Operation Janus and Operation Second Look.
Trump's DOJ has re-hired former immigration judge Matthew O'Brien (formerly with FAIR and IRLI). Terminated in 2022 from his IJ position during his probationery period, now he's been hired in a supervisory role. ACIJ over Annandale.
www.justice.gov/eoir/office-...
www.justice.gov/eoir/office-...
May 20, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Trump's DOJ has re-hired former immigration judge Matthew O'Brien (formerly with FAIR and IRLI). Terminated in 2022 from his IJ position during his probationery period, now he's been hired in a supervisory role. ACIJ over Annandale.
www.justice.gov/eoir/office-...
www.justice.gov/eoir/office-...
The statute requires them to publish by February 25 every year. They usually miss the deadline a by a little. But I don't think it's ever been this late. uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?r...
May 5, 2025 at 7:35 PM
The statute requires them to publish by February 25 every year. They usually miss the deadline a by a little. But I don't think it's ever been this late. uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?r...
Starting to wonder if the State Department just isn't going to publish its annual Human Rights reports this year. For at least the last decade the annual human rights report has been published by this time. It's only been pushed into April 3 times. Never into May.
May 5, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Starting to wonder if the State Department just isn't going to publish its annual Human Rights reports this year. For at least the last decade the annual human rights report has been published by this time. It's only been pushed into April 3 times. Never into May.
Whitehouse. gov now has a red banner at the top that says "Lo-fi MAGA Video to Relax/Study To US." If you click on it, it's just a cartoon of Trump signing a piece of paper over and over and a scrolling text of false statements. You're supposed to "relax" to this? We are in weird times friends.
May 2, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Whitehouse. gov now has a red banner at the top that says "Lo-fi MAGA Video to Relax/Study To US." If you click on it, it's just a cartoon of Trump signing a piece of paper over and over and a scrolling text of false statements. You're supposed to "relax" to this? We are in weird times friends.
What is more - if you "fail or refuse" to attend your court hearings, you are then inadmissible to the United States for five years under INA 212(a)(6)(B). So the claim that "self-deportation is safe" and you have "future opportunity" to return is already just nonsense.
April 30, 2025 at 4:47 PM
What is more - if you "fail or refuse" to attend your court hearings, you are then inadmissible to the United States for five years under INA 212(a)(6)(B). So the claim that "self-deportation is safe" and you have "future opportunity" to return is already just nonsense.
So, the immigration courts have started distributing this flyer. It's being placed on the table you have to sit at for immigration court, and it's being mailed to people with their hearing notices and scheduling orders. The pamphlet is exceedingly inaccurate. I'll do my best to summarize why. 1
April 30, 2025 at 4:42 PM
So, the immigration courts have started distributing this flyer. It's being placed on the table you have to sit at for immigration court, and it's being mailed to people with their hearing notices and scheduling orders. The pamphlet is exceedingly inaccurate. I'll do my best to summarize why. 1
Welp, there were hopes that the unopposed request to halt discovery in Abrego Garcia might be a sign that they were working out a resolution. Not so, it appears. The DOJ filed another sealed motion to stay discovery yesterday, a hearing occured this morning, and Judge Xinis just denied the motion.
April 30, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Welp, there were hopes that the unopposed request to halt discovery in Abrego Garcia might be a sign that they were working out a resolution. Not so, it appears. The DOJ filed another sealed motion to stay discovery yesterday, a hearing occured this morning, and Judge Xinis just denied the motion.
Another day, another memo from EOIR's acting director purporting to overrule BIA precedent. Under what authority? None that I'm aware of. The memo is about change of venue and the issue isn't particularly pressing (the use of clerical transfers). But still. www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...
April 28, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Another day, another memo from EOIR's acting director purporting to overrule BIA precedent. Under what authority? None that I'm aware of. The memo is about change of venue and the issue isn't particularly pressing (the use of clerical transfers). But still. www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1...