Alabama Joins California In Civil Court Cuts, Delays
NYT Notes ‘Border Kid’ Crisis Is Not Over, But Has Moved
Obama Admin. Fighting To Keep Family Detention Centers
L.A. Times Calls Out Congress Over Immigration Court Backlog
Courts Funding Gets Buzzy
Call it official: the once obscure civil courts funding issue surrounding immigration enforcement has gone mainstream. We know this because the click-fest known as BuzzFeed has actually developed one of their video-centric reports: “Top 10 Reasons Why Immigration Courts Need More Funding.”
The reasons are solid, like “… with a backlog of more than 360,000 cases, the average wait for a case to be resolved in immigration court is 578 days.” They also note the lack of legal representation for minors, budget cuts and common sense.
It’s posted in the “community” section with a disclaimer that it was produced by a BuzzFeed non-staffer, but it certainly has the BF DNA. Take a look here.
Child-Immigration Crisis Also A Civil Court Crisis
Background: National Public Radio and others are drawing attention to the fact that, over the past nine months, “… more than 50,000 children and teenagers have crossed that border illegally on their own, most from Central America. By law, the administration can’t deport those young people until they have an immigration hearing — a process that can take years.” The immigration law is different for people from Mexico, who can be returned much faster.
That means what we’re seeing is really a high-profile example of what happens when civil courts can’t meet demands. There is very likely a similar situation in many of our family courts and other systems, and those will eventually bring their own “crisis” headlines.
Here’s the NPR report: Obama To Ask Congress For $2B To Ease Immigration Crisis