Although the accumulation of cases in immigration courts had a significant jump during the government of former President Donald Trump, the problems in courts accumulate during the administration of President Joe Biden and add up to almost 1.6 million files to attend.
This is revealed by a report by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), of Syracuse University, which indicates a greater accumulation as of June 2021.
“New TRAC research finds that a troubling new trend during the Biden administration that demands attention: Since the beginning of the Biden administration, the accumulation growth has accelerated at a vertiginous rate”, he warns.
According to the report, with 140,000, between October and December of 2021 the highest number of new cases occurred, which exceeds any quarterly increase in the most critical moments of the administration of President Donald Trump (2021-2021).
The report ensures that the number of accumulated cases represents almost the size of the population of Philadelphia, which is the sixth largest city in the United States.
It highlights that past government administrations, from George W. Bush at least, have failed to address the seemingly intractable problem of Immigration Court “backlogs,” but there is now a “disturbing” new trend under the Biden administration that “demands attention.”
Warns that these findings suggest that a worrying new era of even more crushing caseloads is being entered, “all the more worrying as no attempted solution has been able to reverse the avalanche of cases that immigration judges now face.”
Although recognizes that the closure of the courts due to the health crisis caused by the pandemic has also influenced, he assures that the main contributor is the recent avalanche of new cases presented by the Department of Homeland Security (or Interior) under Biden.
Also warns that if the current rate continues during the first quarter of the fiscal year 2022, the immigration court will receive 800,000 new cases.
Immigration courts (there are 140 in the United States) resolve civil proceedings against foreigners who have violated their immigration status ( including illegal entry into the country or the expiration of a residence permit), in addition to dealing with the granting of humanitarian asylum or political refugee.
With information from EFE