AG William French Smith creates EOIR separating immigration courts from INS enforcement

Attorney General William French Smith signs an order creating the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) as an independent agency within the Department of Justice, separating immigration court adjudication from INS enforcement functions. The reorganization combines the Board of Immigration Appeals (established 1940) with the immigration judge function previously performed by the INS, creating a unified immigration court system. For the first time, immigration judges are independent of the agency that initiates removal proceedings against them.