Federal Judge Ready To Close 3 Immigration Detention Centers
California, Texas Lead In Immigration Court Delays
SF Immigration-Murder Case May Be ‘Willie Horton’ of 2015
It Had To Happen: Immigrant Avoids ICE Hold, Now A Murder Suspect
Tomorrow’s Immigration News Today: Devil In The Details
Wait, what? With some 400,000 cases pending in the Justice Department’s own immigration courts, they also have the option of deporting people who would “otherwise” qualify for defferral? The WaPo also reports that the “… memo states that the new policy ‘provides for case-by-case determinations about whether an individual alien’s circumstances warrant the expenditure of removal resources, employing a broad standard that leaves ample room for the exercise of individual discretion by enforcement officials.’”
One point of the story is that some people who might qualify for protection under the Obama action will no self-identify to authorities. It’s the kind of uncertainty that has kept some “Dreamers” from stepping forward. From what we’ve seen in the past year, “trust the Justice Department” is going to be a tough sell, and a future headline will be “Few Take Obama Up On Protection Offer.”
Obama Said To Be Planning Big Immigration Move
Feds Demanding Interpreters In Civil Cases
ICE Holds Down Under ‘Trust Act’ Policy
Supreme Court Considering Key Low-Level Drug Deportation Issue
Immigration Judges The ‘Cinderellas’ Of Justice System?
She told ABC that, this year, “… $18 billion was spent on immigration law enforcement and only 1.7 perfect of that went to the courts…” Marks also cited non-functioning equipment and understaffed offices as key culprits in the “massive dysfunction” that immigration judges are currently facing. The judges are actually Justice Department employees.
Judge Marks outlined the scope of the problem: “Nationwide there’s more than 375,000 pending cases before 227 immigration judges who are sitting in the field,” Marks said. This works out to more than 1,500 cases per judge, but individual caseloads vary across the country. For example, Marks’ docket in San Francisco has more than 2,400 pending cases. The judge said the administration’s decision to “flip” the docket to move border kids to the front has meant longer delays for others.