The Operations Instructions of the Immigration Service: Internal Guides Or Binding Rules?

This Article addresses the impact of Operations Instructions, promulgated by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, and their impact on the determination of alien's rights. The author argues that these instructions can be more crucial to the determination of an alien's rights than the terms of the statute itself. The author suggests that the courts are slowly beginning to recognize that many such instructions have a substantial impact on aliens' rights and may sometimes convey very tangible substantive benefits. The author argues that the courts should more consistently treat these instructions as rules to be promulgated, implemented, and generally applied in a consistent and fair manner.