H.R. 7836 — Real Courts, Rule of Law Act of 2026

This section designates the Act as the Real Courts, Rule of Law Act of 2026 and sets forth the table of contents.

This section establishes, as a new title VI of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), an independent Article I court system known as the United States Immigration Courts—with appellate, trial, and administrative divisions—to handle immigration matters previously adjudicated by executive-branch immigration judges under the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review. (Thus, the courts operate outside executive control, with a principal office in the Washington, DC, area and authority to sit anywhere in the U.S.) The appellate division consists of 21 immigration appeals judges appointed by the President with Senate advice and consent to 15-year terms (reappointable), including a chief judge selected by seniority rules for a five-year term (or until ineligible). The division exercises en banc authority by majority vote (with a quorum of at least three active judges or two-thirds of active judges, whichever is greater) over non-adjudicative matters such as appointing and removing trial judges, appointing a chief administrative officer, and promulgating rules. The trial division comprises immigration trial courts (number and locations set by the administrative council), each overseen by a chief trial judge, with immigration trial judges appointed by the appellate division to 15-year terms (reappointable).

This section authorizes Immigration Courts personnel appointments without regard to Title 5 competitive service requirements, including (1) a clerk appointed by the chief judge; (2) law clerks and secretaries appointed by immigration judges; and (3) deputies and other employees appointed by the clerk or chief administrative officer—all in numbers approved by the appellate division. It further permits the appellate division to fix pay rates for these positions without regard to Title 5 classification (chapter 51), General Schedule pay (subchapter III of chapter 53), or special rates (section 5373) and consistent, to the maximum extent feasible, with comparable judicial branch positions. Appointments under these authorities must give hiring preference to preference eligibles (i.e., veterans and certain family members) among equally qualified applicants, and the courts may procure temporary or intermittent experts and consultants under 5 U.S.C. 3109 (i.e., without competitive service, classification, or pay restrictions, subject to appropriation).

This section establishes an independent annual budget process for the Immigration Courts, to be set by the courts without executive branch review or modification and included in the President's budget submission. It authorizes the courts to make necessary expenditures for judicial and administrative functions—including for personal services, rent, law books, and periodicals—either directly or by transfer to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, another Article I court, or an executive agency (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 105) for agreed-upon administrative support (e.g., budgetary, personnel, security, recordkeeping, and IT services). All expenditures are paid on itemized vouchers signed by a certifying officer designated by the chief judge.

This section requires the Chief Immigration Judge to submit to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, by April 1 each year, a report summarizing the Immigration Courts' workload for the preceding fiscal year. The report must include (1) demographic information on respondents (i.e., age, gender, nationality, and rates of representation by counsel); (2) outcomes of removal proceedings, including grant rates for immigration relief, disaggregated by geographical area and immigration trial judge; (3) outcomes of bond hearings, disaggregated by geographical area and immigration trial court; (4) the number of pending cases before the trial and appellate divisions of the Immigration Courts, including the change from the prior fiscal year; (5) the average number of days respondents wait for their cases to be heard, disaggregated by geographical area; and (6) any additional information requested by the committees, if timely and reasonable.

This section establishes the application date for the Immigration Courts and amendments made by the Act as the later of (1) the first day of the first full fiscal year after enactment (if 180 or more days after enactment) or the second full fiscal year after enactment (if less than 180 days after enactment), and (2) the date on which at least three immigration appeals judges are appointed by the President. The section further (1) defines a 4-year transition period beginning on the application date; (2) converts each immigration judge serving in the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) the day before the application date into an interim immigration trial judge with full powers under the new title VI of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), serving up to 5 years or until a successor is appointed (with prior service creditable for retirement and benefits, and no bar to other federal positions or early retirement); (3) sets staggered initial terms for the first 21 immigration appeals judges—7 for 5 years, 7 for 10 years, and 7 for 15 years after the application date (with reappointment eligibility thereafter)—notwithstanding standard INA terms; (4) requires the appellate division to establish immigration trial judge appointment procedures no later than 180 days before the transition period ends, with any trial judge appointed to a vacancy during the period serving only until a successor is appointed but not beyond 1 year after the period ends; and (5) credits prior service (up to 5 years maximum) as a Board of Immigration Appeals member, EOIR immigration judge, or EOIR administrative law judge toward retirement computation for covered immigration appeals judges, trial judges, and interim trial judges who elect retired pay under new INA section 602.

This section transfers functions, personnel, assets, liabilities, records, and unexpended appropriations of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)—which administers immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) within the Department of Justice—to the Immigration Courts on the application date of this Act, subject to exceptions for the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer (OCAHO), which remains under DOJ, and other non-essential functions, which the Attorney General may reassign or dissolve. It further (1) continues precedential decisions by the Attorney General or BIA issued before the application date as precedent in Immigration Court proceedings unless explicitly overruled, and preserves consistent pre-existing Attorney General rules until amended or revoked by the appellate division; and (2) transfers all pending proceedings before the BIA or immigration judges to the appropriate trial or appellate division of the Immigration Courts without loss of rights, interruption of jurisdiction, or prejudice to the parties. (Thus, the transfer ensures operational continuity for immigration adjudication under title II of the Immigration and Nationality Act.)

This section requires the Judicial Conference of the United States to review adjudications in the U.S. Immigration Courts (i.e., administrative courts under the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review that handle immigration removal proceedings, asylum claims, and related matters) at least once every four years as part of its comprehensive survey of federal court business under 28 U.S.C. §331. The Judicial Conference must submit a report of its findings to the appellate division and the Judiciary Committees of the House and Senate, which must print the report in the Congressional Record.

This section makes technical and conforming amendments to multiple sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to establish authority for U.S. Immigration Courts (created under title VI), immigration judges, and the Secretary of Homeland Security in removal proceedings. Among other changes, it (1) redefines "immigration judge" in INA §101(b)(4) as an immigration appeals judge or immigration trial judge appointed to serve in the Immigration Courts; (2) in INA §238(a)(3)(A), requires completion of removal proceedings and administrative appeals for aliens convicted of aggravated felonies, to the extent possible, before their release from incarceration for the underlying offense; (3) in INA §238(b)(4), establishes due process requirements for expedited removal proceedings, including reasonable notice, right to counsel at no government expense, opportunity to inspect evidence and rebut charges, identity verification on the record, and maintenance of a record for judicial review; (4) in INA §240(b), strikes paragraphs (1) and (6); redesignates paragraphs (2)-(5) as (1)-(4) and paragraph (7) as (5); authorizes proceedings in person or via video conference subject to rules under INA §622(a)(5); references counsel rights under INA §623(a); substitutes "Government" for "Service" and updates notice requirements; and authorizes immigration judges to enter stipulated removal orders under INA §240(d); and (5) throughout INA §§238, 239, 240, and 242, replaces "Attorney General" with "Immigration Courts," "immigration judge," or "administrative council of the Immigration Courts"; replaces "Service" or "Immigration and Naturalization Service" with "Department of Homeland Security," "Secretary of Homeland Security," or "Government"; and makes related terminology updates (e.g., "apply for" to "seek" judicial review).