WASHINGTON — While the Trump administration’s reliance on executive authority to achieve sweeping immigration changes across the federal government has long been examined, far less attention has been given to the expanded use of a relatively obscure yet significant authority that allows the attorney general to set immigration policy. Using the “referral and review” power, the attorney general can reach into the immigration courts system, which is housed in the Justice Department, and overrule decisions made by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) — thus setting new policy.
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