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📄DOJ Modifies Recognition and Accreditation Program for Organizations

Pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974 and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-108, notice is hereby given that the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), a component within the United States Department of Justice (DOJ or Department), proposes to modify a system of records notice titled Roster of Organizations and their Accredited Representatives Recognized by the Board of Immigration Appeals, JUSTICE/BIA-002. In 2016, EOIR issued a final rule amending the regulations governing the requirements and procedures for the recognition of organizations and the accreditation of those organizations' representatives to represent persons in proceedings before EOIR and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Those regulatory amendments transferred the administration of the Recognition and Accreditation (R&A) Program within EOIR from the Board of Immigration Appeals (Board) to the Office of Legal Access Programs (OLAP). In 2019, the R&A Program was transferred by regulation to the Office of Policy (OP), the part of EOIR that oversees OLAP. EOIR proposes to modify JUSTICE/BIA-002 and to change the system number to JUSTICE/EOIR-004 to reflect the transfer of the R&A Program to OP. The last publication of the complete system of records notice was in 1980, prior to the issuance of OMB A-108. As such, EOIR is re-publishing the System of Records Notice for this system, in full. Additionally, the agency's Access EOIR initiative gave rise to the modernization of the Recognition and Accreditation Program application process through the development of the Recognition and Accreditation Access (RAA) system allowing prospective applicants to apply online for recognition or accreditation and online account management of an approved organization. Modified JUSTICE/EOIR-004 captures this modernization effort.