The bottleneck in the United States immigration courts, with more than 3.7 million pending cases, is aggravated for migrants who seek to avoid deportation after the dismissal of judges as part of the official cut undertaken by President Donald Trump.
“This decision worries us because it can bring negative changes for those who have processes in the migratory courts that go further in an extension of the time they are waiting for a resolution of their case,” said Adriel Orozco, a senior advisor of the American Immigration Council.
For the expert, the measure of dismissing the judges could bring behind modifications to the process requirements such as asylum, for example, and additional restrictions for migrants who seek to legalize their situation in the country or avoid their deportation.
According to the transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), there are more than 3.7 million pending cases, of which 1.7 million are formal asylum requests.
The data collected by this center of the University of Syracuse, in New York, also details that the Customs Immigration and Control Agency (ICE, in English) had 41,169 immigrants in custody until last February 9, of which 54.7 % (22,538) lacked criminal records. “Many more have minor infractions, including traffic offenses,” he said.
At the same time, the Trump administration imposed production quotas to the judges, demanding to resolve at least 700 annual cases to obtain a satisfactory qualification.
However, the recent layoffs of 20 judges and 12 attendees left only a total of 715, which raises the load to some 6,000 cases per judge. “This will make judges pay less attention to the situation of each individual,” Orozco laments.
Although the government justified the dismissals for budget cuts, the Congress had approved funds to hire up to 100 judges a year during the last decade.
But according to Democratic congressman Henry Cuéllar, many of these places are still not covered, despite the record of accumulated cases.
In fiscal year 2024, the immigration courts resolved 914,812 cases, the largest figure in a single year, representing an increase of 36 % compared to 2023. Even so, the accumulation of cases continues to grow.
The Miami-Dade County, in Florida, leads the number of pending deportation cases, while Montana records the highest percentage of removal orders.
Last September, according to Trac, only 15% of immigrants, including unaccompanied children, had a lawyer to help them in the cases of an immigration court when a deportation order was issued.
26,000 children drift
To the crisis of migratory judges are added other cuts that affect unaccompanied migrant minors. The National Latin Voto Organization condemned the decision of the Trump administration “to eliminate the legal representation of 26,000 immigrant children, including some too young to read or speak.”
Many of these children, who were previously under the custody of the refugee relocation office (ORR), of the Department of Health and Human Services, now face the alarming possibility of being deported without legal assistance.
Of these, approximately 4,000 reside in California and many are without their parents or legal guardians to defend them, said Latin Voto.
“Removing legal assistance to children, some of whom cannot even articulate their own defense, is a violation of basic human rights,” said the organization.
He also recalled that the program that provides legal representation to unaccompanied minors has been in operation for more than two decades and called Congress to act in defense of children.
“All children, regardless of their origin, deserve to have access to due process and a fair audience,” said Latin Voto.
The Acacia Center For Justice organization denounced this week to have received a notification from the Department of the Interior ordering the immediate suspension of its minor legal aid program. In fiscal year 2024, Orr received 98,356 cases of minors.
“Clarity still lacks the rules that will apply, but we fear that this measure extends the waiting time and uncertainty about the future of children,” said American Immigration Council advisor.
