Immigration Court Backlog May Grow by Years on Shutdown
The shutdown of the federal government over the president’s campaign promise to build a wall along the southern U.S. border is taking its toll on already backed-up immigration courts.
People climb over the U.S.-Mexico border fence on Dec. 3, 2018 while crossing into San Diego, from Tijuana, Mexico.
Photographer: John Moore/Getty ImagesThe shutdown of the federal government over the president’s campaign promise to build a wall along the southern U.S. border is taking its toll on already backed-up immigration courts.
Hearings for non-detained individuals are being taken off the calendar due to the lack of funding and will need to be rescheduled once the partial shutdown ends. The problem will be finding an opening for those cases on judges’ calendars, which are already filled up for the coming three years or more.