Federal officials have quietly begun fast-tracking cases through immigration courts, pushing dozens of additional cases onto the dockets on certain days in an effort to more quickly process asylum and other claims.<\/p>\n
The fast-tracking, which is also intended to increase the pace of deportations, started without any formal notification or announcement from the Trump administration, according to immigration lawyers and court officials interviewed by The New York Times. But a surge of cases has been apparent in numerous courts around the country. Some judges have seen their caseloads double and triple, prompting worries that cases are being rushed through, violating due process rights.<\/p>\n
At separate courthouses in Annandale and Sterling, Va., in recent days, Times reporters observed long lines and packed dockets. Some immigration judges saw their caseloads more than double, with as many as 100 adults waiting for their cases to be heard. In Annandale, the caseloads have included dozens of unaccompanied minors.<\/p>\n
Lines were also evident at a courthouse in downtown Chicago on a recent weekday, with families spilling out of waiting areas and into hallways. Many cases were being processed in small groups, or in several instances with more than two dozen people appearing at once.<\/p>\n
And in New Orleans, lawyers saw the number of cases increase to more than 200 on Monday and Tuesday in one courtroom alone. The judges at that courthouse typically take only about 30 to 40 cases per day, lawyers said. The morning dockets were so packed and chaotic that lawyers wishing to observe or monitor the proceedings were not allowed in to watch.<\/p>\n
Federal officials say that speeding through cases will help alleviate backlogs that have led some asylum and immigration relief claims to languish for years. The slow pace of the process, they contend, creates incentives for people to enter the United States to file claims that may be weak or invalid.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department said in a statement that clearing the court backlog was a top priority for the administration, and that it was hearing the cases fairly and in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n
An official with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which is part of the Justice Department and oversees the immigration court system, said the larger caseloads were a result of the court hiring new immigration judges, and described them as necessary to clear a backlog of upward of 3 million cases this year, according to federal figures.<\/p>\n
But immigration lawyers and rights groups counter that the sudden acceleration of the process risks errors, denies immigrants due process and leaves people with little time to find lawyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything related to these large dockets or mass dockets is shrouded in such a strange secrecy,\u201d said Gracie Willis, an attorney with the National Immigration Project, a nonprofit that provides legal services for immigrants. \u201cOur confirmation that they were even happening really came from going to the court on Monday and seeing the large lines of people standing outside,\u201d she added, referring to the proceedings she observed in New Orleans.<\/p>\n
The surge comes at a time of upheaval for Mr. Trump\u2019s immigration strategy. On Friday, a federal judge rejected the government\u2019s indefinite hold on asylum applications filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and on immigration applications from people from 39 countries who had been unable to obtain green cards and citizenship. The ruling is not expected to have a major impact on immigration courts.<\/p>\n
This week, the Supreme Court also declined to review a ruling<\/a> from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit requiring the government to take more steps to notify immigrants of their hearing dates if their notices are returned in the mail.<\/p>\n