A data research group estimates that more than 82,000 immigration hearings were canceled because the judges were furloughed during the partial government shutdown.
Hearings for migrants claiming asylum and others that had been scheduled in front of 385 judges are believed to have been canceled, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data analysis organization within New York’s Syracuse University.
The
data research group counted 42,726 hearings that had been scheduled to take place between Dec. 22, the start of the shutdown, and Jan. 11, but were canceled because no judges were around to decide the cases. The research group said for every week beyond Jan. 11, an estimated 20,000 additional hearings were canceled.
Another two weeks passed before President Trump agreed to sign a bill that would fund the lapsed quarter of federal government that had gone without money, allowing immigration judges to go back to work and hear cases.
The shutdown officially ended late Friday, Jan. 25. By that time, around 82,000 hearings total would have been missed, the Clearinghouse calculated.
The delay pushes the number of asylum and other type of immigration cases now waiting to be decided on to more than 890,000. The organization had counted 809,041 cases as of late November.
“Individuals impacted by these cancellations may have already being [sic] waiting two, three, or even four years for their day in court, and now may have to wait years more before their hearing can be rescheduled once the shutdown ends,” the Clearinghouse wrote in a statement.
A DOJ spokesperson could not confirm the number of hearings canceled during the shutdown. However, the official said the canceled cases will be rescheduled as quickly as possible.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review, within the Justice Department, oversees all immigration cases in its 65 immigration courts and adjudication centers nationwide.
All illegal entrants have the right to claim credible fear of returning home and because so many were doing so, the government was overwhelmed. While the U.S. government has protocols in place for asylum hopefuls to request the special status in their home countries, many migrate through Mexico and show up at Customs and Border Protection ports of entry or illegally enter, then surrender to Border Patrol agents.
That person will then claim credible fear of returning home and a Border Patrol agent will hear his or her initial claim and decide if it meets criteria to continue as a candidate for asylum. If it does not, the person will be deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If the case meets the credible fear criteria, it will be handed over to Citizenship and Immigration Services, where an officer will formally interview the migrant.
Months, sometimes years later, the case will go before an executive office immigration judge to be decided on.
The number of cases has spiked 350 percent since 2009, when tens of thousands of Central American families began traveling to the U.S. and claiming asylum.
The shutdown-induced surge to the backlog, or cases waiting to be decided on, comes after the Trump administration had pushed to get through the long line of applications more quickly.
In fiscal 2018, 20 percent more cases were completed than in 2017.
DOJ expects to add 50 more judges by June 30 to its staff.
