The Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) released statistics this week that showed that the increase of immigration judges to DHS detention centers had a “positive net effect on the nationwide caseload”. Pres. Trump’s January executive called on Attorney General Sessions to temporarily reassign immigration judges in an effort to reduce the immigration court backlog.
A recent report from TRAC immigration shows that the immigration courts currently have a backlog of more than 630,000 cases. The backlog significantly increased during the border surge of minors and family units as a result of the Obama’s administration’s catch-and-release policies.
According to EOIR the judges completed about 2,700 more cases, a 21% increase, then they would have without the additional judges. This lead to more completed cases and outpaced expected home court deferrals, resulting in less cases nationwide.
“EOIR is pleased with the results of the surge of immigration judges to detention facilities and the potential impact it has on the pending caseload nationwide,” said Acting Director James McHenry. “The Justice Department will continue to identify ways in which it can further improve immigration judge productivity without compromising due process.”
Read more on this story at the Daily Caller.
