On May 30, 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions selected James McHenry as the new acting Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) [link]. McHenry will replace Juan P. Osuna, who has served as Director of EOIR since 2011 [see blog].
The Department of Justice (DOJ) news release on the McHenry selection provides an overview of his background. McHenry has worked as an attorney in the U.S. government in various capacities over his career. He first worked for the EOIR in 2003 through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. He returned to the EOIR in 2016 to serve as an administrative law judge (ALJ) for the EOIR’s Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO). McHenry has also served as an attorney and an ALJ in the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law.
The Director of EOIR plays a crucial role in administering the system of Immigration Courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).
