Critics often tell immigrants to “get in line” to legally stay in the United States — but the only line in place spans years, as there are now more than half a million cases backlogged in the federal immigration court system.
Based on new Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) findings by the Associated Press, the total number of immigration cases still pending has reached 500,051 — a number driven by Central American mothers and children who began arriving at the southern U.S. border beginning in late 2013.
Immigration courts have been inundated with cases after the Obama administration prioritized and expedited court hearings for Central Americans in a process critically called a “rocket docket,” which gives lawyers and immigrants little time to gather evidence to support their claims for humanitarian relief.
A total of 39,970 unaccompanied children from Latin America and 39,838 Central American families crossed the border in the 2015 fiscal year, a 42 percent drop from the previous year. But that number has started to climb in the 2016 fiscal year, with 34,463 Central Americans arriving by June. Prioritizing their cases has meant that other immigrants have continued to linger in the backlog, sometimes even for decades.
Regional issues can also add to the backlog. A recent measles outbreak at an immigration detention center in Eloy, Arizona closed the nearby courthouse for nearly a month, resulting in an estimated backlog of 790 cases.
Immigration judges are frustrated by the federal immigration court backlog. Dana Leigh Marks, an immigration judge in San Francisco and president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, a union representing immigration judges, told the AP that multi-year delays could make it a more difficult process for immigrants trying to stay in the country legally.
“As a judge, it’s very frustrating because we have to go back to the beginning,” Marks told the AP. “It’s a more time consuming job, more difficult. It’s very different when you (hear a case) within a year, as compared to seven or eight years.
Beyond the backlog, about 153,624 cases were adjudicated in the 2016 fiscal year through June, with an average completion time of 556 days. Last year, immigration judges had caseloads of about 1,000 cases — or about 80 a week — with some even presiding over 3,000 cases. The American Bar Association recommends that immigration judges should have no more than 700 cases a year. The current budget level for the immigration court system for the 2016 fiscal year is $481.9 million, with an aim to hire 55 new immigration judges.
There has been some effort to hire more judges, though it has been an ongoing and slow process to find people willing to take on a job that has been found to have a higher burnout rate than prison wardens, social workers, and doctors. Hiring more judges has been a priority
The EOIR swore in 15 immigration judges last month, bringing the total number of judges to 273. But that number still falls short of the 374 judges provided by a congressionally funded budget. The human rights activist group Human Rights First estimated that 524 are needed to eliminate the backlog and adjudicate incoming cases in a timely manner.
The backlogs have had real implications for immigrants and their families who are living in fear of their lives. A Human Rights First report from April found that “chronic underfunding, hiring challenges, and shifting enforcement strategies have left the asylum office and the immigration courts in a state of crisis.” The report estimated that the backlog will reach about one million by the 2022 fiscal year. These backlogs have created a kind of legal limbo for people like asylum seekers who are in line but have not had their asylum requests granted, and therefore may not be able to bring their own families into the country.
Human Rights First interviewed “Joshua,” a Nigerian Christian who was kidnapped by Boko Haram militants, who got his first court appearance in 2013 and scheduled a hearing on the merits of his case for 2016. He has since been granted asylum and is petitioning for his family to reunite with him, but they have been in continuous hiding since 2013.
In another interview with “Ammar,” a Syrian who fears persecution because he refused to take part in the Syrian war, the report found that his first court hearing is scheduled for 2019. Meanwhile, his family is stranded and threatened by daily bombings in Syria.
“When you hear every day from your daughters that ‘we want to come.’ And they start to cry when they hear the bomb noises, and it’s … horrible,” Ammar said.
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