Even those casually following immigration are likely aware of the active role Trump's attorneys general played.

This participation entailed unprecedented use of "referral & review"... a power with a problematic & twisted journey beyond Trump...

More in my report out today⬇️

Referral & review dates back to a time when the immigration bureaucracy was housed within the Justice Department.

The power helped the attorney general to manage this system - knitting adjudications, rulemaking, & other decisions into one coherent immigration policy framework.

That's not to say it wasn't without its issues!

Allowing the attorney general—the country’s chief law enforcement officer—to intercede in individual immigration cases has raised questions about the true independence of the immigration adjudication system.

Plus, the attorney general can issue referral & reviews without transparency or briefings, which has negative implications for the legal and policy soundness of the decisions and their acceptance.

But then! 2003 happens.

Under the government restructuring following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, most of the immigration system was moved out of the Justice Department.

The attorney general was left with the immigration court system and...referral & review.