New reports about the causes and consequences of the US immigration court backlog are drawing renewed attention to this seemingly intractable problem. Simply put, more immigration cases are started each year than immigration judges can complete. Over time, this has led to ballooning numbers of pending cases which put pressure on judges and the courts, while also having real consequences for migrants living in legal limbo
Thanks for this Austin. Another anecdote, or should I say, human life, is that the West African woman and her young son living in the church apartment where Edith was recently returned home despite the dangers because she couldn't bear to be apart from her other three children any longer. Her case was scheduled for August (which had been about a two year wait) but when she found out that even if that went perfect it would take longer for the other children to be able to join her she decided it wasn't worth it.
This is extremely well laid out. I follow this stuff pretty closely, so I'm not surprised at the disparity between the budget for the EOIR and the enforcement arms of our immigration system, just at how extreme the difference is. Similarly, anyone who follows the issues at all would know that people face real danger when they're deported (or forced to "wait" South of the border in places our State Dept. warns US citizens against visiting), but you express very vividly the situation of deported people who have been in the US long enough to absorb the culture and be perceived as Americans, and therefore as targets.
Ah, yes, the solution part.... Logically, Republicans (and some Democrats) who don't want to have thousands of asylum-seekers living here for years without legal status should be in favor of changes that would fix the backlog, from a pragmatic if not a human-rights viewpoint. But they're far more interested in exploiting the mess than fixing it.
Thanks for this Austin. Another anecdote, or should I say, human life, is that the West African woman and her young son living in the church apartment where Edith was recently returned home despite the dangers because she couldn't bear to be apart from her other three children any longer. Her case was scheduled for August (which had been about a two year wait) but when she found out that even if that went perfect it would take longer for the other children to be able to join her she decided it wasn't worth it.
I had no idea, Joel. That's heartbreaking. Time itself can be brutal, no?
We're hopeful they'll all have a safe place there but it was a lot of needless agony with the asylum process, as you highlight.
This is extremely well laid out. I follow this stuff pretty closely, so I'm not surprised at the disparity between the budget for the EOIR and the enforcement arms of our immigration system, just at how extreme the difference is. Similarly, anyone who follows the issues at all would know that people face real danger when they're deported (or forced to "wait" South of the border in places our State Dept. warns US citizens against visiting), but you express very vividly the situation of deported people who have been in the US long enough to absorb the culture and be perceived as Americans, and therefore as targets.
Yes, you certainly do follow this closely! I know that for sure. It's just such a messy system right now, I'm not sure I see a clear solution.
Ah, yes, the solution part.... Logically, Republicans (and some Democrats) who don't want to have thousands of asylum-seekers living here for years without legal status should be in favor of changes that would fix the backlog, from a pragmatic if not a human-rights viewpoint. But they're far more interested in exploiting the mess than fixing it.
I couldn't agree more.