Immigration Court Backlog

Immigration Court Backlog Worsens

One of the major news stories of last summer was the unforeseen increase in the number of unaccompanied children who crossed the American border. It was a humanitarian crisis (President Obama’s phrase) by itself, but it also had practical ramifications for immigration court. It swelled the number of individuals facing trial in immigration court and increased the already present backlog.

Immigration Court is facing its highest caseload in its history. At the conclusion of April 2015, there are 445,607 cases pending before the Immigration Courts. That represents a 9.2% increase from the beginning of the 2015 Fiscal Year and an astounding 29.5% increase from the beginning of the 2014 Fiscal Year. The Executive Office of Immigration Review is part of the Department of Justice and an Article I Court (executive branch of government). The unaccompanied children are a small part, however, of the overall immigration court backlog.

Please note that EOIR, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Department of Homeland Security are separate from USCIS, which grants immigration and nonimmigration benefits for individuals not in removal proceedings.

The four most represented nationalities in Immigration Court at the moment are Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. This is probably explained by their proximity and the current country conditions. China is the fifth most represented nationality. The states with the most individuals in removal proceedings are California, Texas, New York, Florida, and New Jersey. These are among the most populous states in the Union and also the states that have the most immigrants and visitors overall.

Thank you to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University for the statistics. It provides comprehensive, independent, and nonpartisan information about US federal immigration enforcement.