New Chief Immigration Judge Sworn In by Attorney General Holder

New Chief Immigration Judge Sworn In by Attorney General Holder

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)

announced that Attorney General Eric Holder administered the oath of office to EOIR’s

newly-appointed Chief Immigration Judge Brian M. O’Leary at an investiture ceremony held

today at EOIR Headquarters. The Attorney General appointed Brian M. O’Leary as EOIR’s

Chief Immigration Judge effective July 5, 2009.

Prior to his appointment, Judge O’Leary served as an immigration judge from May 2007

to June 2009 at the Arlington, Va., Immigration Court. He served two six-month appointments

as a temporary board member on EOIR’s Board of Immigration Appeals from May 2006 to May

2007 and as a deputy chief immigration judge in the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge from

March 2003 to May 2006. Judge O’Leary served as an assistant chief immigration judge from

May 1994 to March 2003.

Before joining EOIR, Judge O’Leary worked for five years in numerous positions with

the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Headquarters Office of the General

Counsel where he served as associate general counsel, deputy associate general counsel, and

assistant general counsel. He also served with the United States Attorney’s Offices in

the Southern District of Florida and the Eastern District of Virginia, where he worked as Special

Assistant United States Attorney. Prior to that experience, Judge O’Leary worked as a trial

attorney with the Miami District Office of the former INS.

Judge O’Leary received his bachelor’s degree at the Georgetown University School of

Foreign Service in 1982, and received a juris doctorate from the New England School of Law in

1985. He completed the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Program for Senior

Managers in Government at Harvard University in August 2001. He is a member of the Florida

and Massachusetts state bars.

The Chief Immigration Judge provides overall program direction, articulates policies and

procedures, and establishes priorities for the more than 230 immigration judges located in 57 immigration courts nationwide. EOIR’s immigration judges conduct administrative court

proceedings to determine whether foreign-born individuals, who are charged by the Department

of Homeland Security with violating immigration law, should be ordered removed from the

United States or should be granted relief from removal and be permitted to remain in this

country. Immigration judges decide each case independently, and their decisions are final unless

appealed or certified to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

–– EOIR ––