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<\/p>\nMIAMI \u2014 Yerandy Gonzalez looks at the line of hundreds of people in front of him and shakes his head.<\/p>\n
\nHe takes a step aside and lights up a cigarette.<\/p>\n
\n“This is crazy, man,” Gonzalez says in Spanish.<\/p>\n
\nThe line \u2014 which stretches across a few blocks on this humid Tuesday morning \u2014 is of people waiting to go inside Miami’s immigration court. All of the people in line have a scheduled hearing \u2013 for many it’s their first court appearance.<\/p>\n
\nAvene Jeanite, a 52-year-old Haitian man, is among those waiting. He was here last month accompanying a friend facing deportation. But today is his appointment.<\/p>\n
\n“It was not like this \u2014 you would go to the door and they’d let you in,” Jeanite said. “Today is completely different.”<\/p>\n
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Sergio Mart\u00ednez-Beltr\u00e1n \/ NPR<\/p>\n
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NPR<\/p>\n
Avene Jeanite, a 52-year-old Haitian man, had an immigration hearing appointment in Miami this week.<\/p>\n
The long lines are not a glitch. They are the result of a new Trump administration tactic, known as “mega master” calendar hearings<\/a>,” designed to quickly deport people.<\/p>\n \nUnder the old system, each judge would handle about three dozen cases per day.<\/p>\n \nBut now, judges more regularly have a docket of over 100 people, and they are seeing dozens of immigrant cases at once.<\/p>\n \nTrump administration officials say the accelerated calendar is needed to clear a massive backlog; critics call it a tactic to unfairly speed up deportations.<\/p>\n \n“It’s a very unfair, but a very effective tactic,” said David Wilson, the vice chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s immigration court committee.<\/p>\n \nHe said “mega masters” create chaos because the court is cramming a lot of immigrants in one docket, making it hard for the court itself to send notices in a timely manner and for the immigrant to find legal representation.<\/p>\n \n“When that happens, it generates a significant no-show rate,” Wilson said.<\/p>\n Eva Marie Uzcategui for NPR \/ <\/p>\n People wait outside the Miami Immigration Court on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026 in Miami, Fla.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Justice Department said in a statement to NPR that “reducing the immigration court backlog remains one of the highest priorities for this administration.”<\/p>\n \nMeanwhile, a spokesperson for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the agency that oversees immigration courts, said that as the agency continues to add immigration judges, it “will continue to make scheduling adjustments to ensure all cases are handled in a timely and lawful manner.”<\/p>\n \nSince mega master calendar hearings started, in-absentia deportation orders have spiked to a record high, according to the legal tech platform bklg<\/a>. In July, more than 54,000 immigrants nationwide were ordered deported for missing their court hearing. That number was similar to the 56,000 in June. Both reflect a 60% increase over the last few months.<\/p>\n \nIn the Miami immigration court, the increase of in-absentia orders in July spiked from 1,383 in May to 2,886 in July \u2014 a 108% increase.<\/p>\n Crammed courtrooms, confusion and frustration<\/p>\n \nOn this day, it’s standing room only in courtroom 24. Recording is not allowed. But NPR saw Judge Xavier Racine call a group of some 30 people at once. He reads them their rights, and assigns them a new court hearing \u2014 a month from today. Other judges assign court hearings as quickly as in two weeks.<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788374652_201_.jpeg\"\/)
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