Attorney General Eric Holder Announces Acting Director for the Executive Office for Immigration Review

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder today announced the appointment of Juan Osuna as Acting Director for the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

“Juan has been with the department for more than a decade and has developed an extensive knowledge of immigration litigation, and earned a reputation as a diligent and thoughtful advocate and manager,” said Attorney General Holder. “I am confident he will lead the office with the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and dedication.”

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) was created on Jan. 9, 1983, through an internal department reorganization which combined the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) with the Immigration Judge function previously performed by the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) (now part of the Department of Homeland Security). The Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO) was added in 1987.

EOIR is headed by a Director who is responsible for the supervision of the Chairman of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the Chief Immigration Judge, the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer and all agency personnel.

Since earlier this year, Osuna has worked as an Associate Deputy Attorney General working on immigration policy, Indian country matters, pardons and commutations, and other issues.  Prior to that, he worked in the department’s Civil Division, where, in addition to handling immigration policy, he also oversaw civil immigration-related litigation in the federal courts.  Previously he served as chairman of the BIA, where he managed the highest administrative tribunal on immigration matters in the United States, comprised of 250 employees, including 15 Board Members, 135 attorneys and support personnel.  He was first appointed to the BIA in 2000 and became the chairman in 2008.

While at the BIA, Osuna put in place a number of reforms and oversaw the Attorney General’s 2006 reform plan, which increased the quality and transparency of the Board’s decisions, and he adjudicated hundreds of appeals from decisions of Immigration Judges made in removal proceedings. 

Osuna also teaches immigration policy at George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Va. 

Osuna received a B.A. from George Washington University, a law degree from American University’s Washington College of Law and a master’s degree in law and international affairs from American University’s School of International Service.