Some Maryland immigrants are being instructed to report to a federal building in Washington, D.C., for immigration hearings that are conducted virtually by judges sitting in Baltimore, a new arrangement that has left some people confused about where to appear.
The Washington location is in the Federal Center Plaza, more than 30 miles from Baltimore. It is not associated with a known immigration court, according to the information provided.
On Sept. 9, 76 people attended hearings through the Washington location. Some had traveled from across Maryland, including a number of Haitians from Salisbury.
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Several said they had been notified only days earlier that hearings scheduled for later in the year had been moved to an earlier date.
People arriving at the Washington building struggled to locate the hearing room. There were no signs directing them to the virtual proceedings, and some reportedly went to a McDonald’s on the first floor while trying to find the correct location.
The hearings were being conducted by Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Kuyomars Golparvar from the George H. Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore, where the courtroom was largely empty.
Former Baltimore immigration judge David Koelsch criticized the arrangement and questioned why immigrants would have to travel to another city for a hearing conducted remotely.
“There’s really no reason for doing this other than trying to jam people, hoping they’re not going to get the notice, hoping they’re not going to show up at this obscure office in D.C.,” Koelsch said.
Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge in York, Pennsylvania, offered a different explanation. He said Baltimore’s immigration court may not have enough space to accommodate the growing number of people appearing for hearings.
He described the Washington hearing room as a possible practical use of available federal space.
The Justice Department said reducing the immigration court backlog is a priority for the Trump administration and maintained that people appearing before immigration judges receive due process.
Kathryn Mattingly, a spokesperson for the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review, said the agency would continue making scheduling adjustments and opening hearing locations when necessary.
The arrangement has also raised concerns about notice. Immigration attorney Katherine Stenlake said people without lawyers can already struggle to navigate immigration proceedings because of the complexity of the law and court procedures.
Court regulations require 10 days’ notice before a scheduled hearing, Stenlake said, while Baltimore had traditionally provided months of advance notice.
During the afternoon docket, 32 people appeared before Golparvar in Baltimore. Many were Haitians who had entered the United States through a Biden-era parole program or previously held Temporary Protected Status. Almost all had filed asylum applications.
Golparvar rejected the applications because they were incomplete and gave many of the applicants 12 days to resubmit them.
One man who had mistakenly gone to Baltimore instead of Washington was given two weeks to find an attorney before returning for his next hearing at the Washington location.
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Eight of the 32 people scheduled for the afternoon session did not appear and received deportation orders.
Jimmy Norgues, a Salisbury community advocate who accompanied another Haitian community member to Washington, said the experience left people anxious.
“Everybody was nervous coming there. People don’t feel protected,” Norgues said. “It’s a trick. It seems like they are trying to get people in trouble.”