Immigration Court Backlog Jumps While Case Processing Slows

The Immigration Court's backlog keeps rising. As of the end of May 2018, the number of cases waiting decision reached an all-time high of 714,067. This compares with a court backlog of 542,411 cases at the end of January 2017 when President Trump assumed office. During his term the backlog has increased by almost a third (32%) with 171,656 more cases added. See Figure 1.


Figure 1. Pending Cases in Immigration Court
(Click for larger image)

It is noteworthy that the pace of court filings has not increased - indeed, filings are running slightly behind that of last year at this time. Instead, what appears to be driving the burgeoning backlog is the lengthening time it now takes to schedule hearings and complete proceedings in the face of the court's over-crowded dockets.

While the Justice Department, including Attorney General Sessions and court administrators, have implemented a number of new policies with the announced aim of speeding case dispositions, their efforts thus far have not had the desired result and appear to have actually lengthened completion times so that these have risen to new all-time highs.

For example, cases that ultimately result in a removal order are taking 28 percent longer to process than last year - up from 392 days to an average of 501 days - from the date of the Notice to Appear (NTA) to the date of the decision. And compared with the last full fiscal year of the Obama administration, cases resulting in removal take an average of 42 percent longer.

Decisions granting asylum or another type of relief now take over twice as long as removal decisions. Relief decisions this year on average took 1,064 days - up 17 percent - from last year. Again, these times represent a new all-time high for the court.

Current Wait Times for a Court Hearing

Cases that are now being completed reflect matters that were filed in past years. New cases may take even longer given the lengthening wait times before a slot on the court's docket becomes available. While it is not possible to know how long current cases will have to wait for their decisions, it is possible to assess how long immigrants have been and continue to wait for their scheduled appearance before a judge.

Table 1 provides a run-down on how long current cases are waiting before their hearing is scheduled to occur. There is an enormous range in wait times depending upon hearing location. At one extreme, wait times in Houston, San Antonio, Chicago, Imperial (California), Denver, and Arlington (Virginia) now average over 1,400 days. However, wait times at some hearing locations for detained immigrants can be considerably shorter - as little as a month or two.

Even these hearings can be postponed if cases with higher priority bump them off the docket, or the judge is temporarily reassigned to handle caseloads elsewhere. Further, decisions often require multiple hearings so immigrants may have to wait much longer before their case is finally resolved. In fact, sixty-one percent of cases in the backlog are waiting their "master calendar" hearing[1]. Except for individuals who want to immediately agree to their removal, the "master calendar hearing" is only the first hearing - not the last. As EOIR explains, an individual's first appearance before an immigration judge in a removal proceeding is at a master calendar hearing. The purpose of the master calendar hearing is to advise the individuals of their rights, explain the removal charges the government has filed against them, take pleadings, identify and attempt to narrow the factual and legal issues, and set deadlines for filing any papers needed for subsequent hearings.

After the master calendar hearing, an individual merits hearing may then need to be scheduled. Continuances may also be required to allow the immigrant time to find an attorney, or for a new attorney once found to gather the evidence needed to defend his or her client given the government's particular claims.

With the current backlog and already overcrowded dockets, the ultimate delay for individuals requiring one or more additional hearings will as a result be a great deal longer than the wait times shown in Table 1. This is highlighted in the last column of the table which shows how far out into the future new hearings at that location are being scheduled. Dates beyond 2021 are not uncommon at many locations.

State Hearing Location** Pending Cases Average Days Latest
Hearing Date
Scheduled
Already Waited More Until Hearing Projected Total Wait
TX Leland Federal Building (Houston) 6,596 1,440 311 1,751 13SEP2021
TX San Antonio, Texas 26,168 1,171 443 1,614 29NOV2019
IL Chicago, Illinois 23,543 1,091 451 1,542 30DEC2021
CA Imperial, California 3,239 801 695 1,496 10DEC2021
TX Houston, Texas 41,634 944 513 1,457 17MAY2023
CO Denver, Colorado 11,550 1,087 337 1,424 16DEC2021
VA Arlington, Virginia 32,012 883 517 1,400 22DEC2022
NE Omaha, Nebraska 7,843 914 357 1,271 15DEC2021
GA Atlanta, Georgia 13,028 912 338 1,250 29SEP2021
OH Cleveland, Ohio 9,043 819 403 1,222 16DEC2021
MI Detroit, Michigan 3,665 897 305 1,202 29DEC2021
CA San Francisco, California 51,967 778 405 1,183 22DEC2021
PA Philadelphia Adults With Children 280 819 346 1,165 03FEB2020
WA Seattle, Washington 9,781 703 435 1,138 27DEC2021
NJ Newark, New Jersey 37,891 841 275 1,116 23DEC2021
OR Portland, Oregon 4,724 641 466 1,107 03SEP2021
MA Boston, Massachusetts 20,926 718 388 1,106 30NOV2021
AZ Phoenix, Arizona 7,901 763 331 1,094 16SEP2020
NY New York City, New York 92,883 700 392 1,092 30JUN2021
TX Dallas, Texas 17,164 580 511 1,091 05APR2022
MN Bloomington 6,162 686 374 1,060 23DEC2021
TX El Paso, Texas 3,863 846 115 961 13MAR2019
NC Charlotte Juvenile 1,410 778 182 960 14MAY2019
MN Minnesota Correctional Facility 67 719 228 947 08JAN2020
CA Los Angeles, California 70,377 731 216 947 19OCT2021
MD Baltimore, Maryland 25,351 589 308 897 06DEC2021
TN Memphis, Tennessee 10,428 474 414 888 24FEB2022
LA New Orleans, Louisiana 9,237 495 392 887 29DEC2021
MO Kansas City, Missouri 7,817 574 301 875 17DEC2021
NE Omaha Juvenile 1,659 662 206 868 10JUN2021
VA Arlington Juvenile 7,935 555 309 864 27DEC2021
MA Boston Unaccompanied Juvenile 3,933 660 201 861 30APR2020
FL Miami, Florida 33,287 636 179 815 28APR2020
CT Hartford, Connecticut 3,787 485 328 813 29JUL2021
KY Louisville, Kentucky 5,286 642 164 806 27FEB2020
PA Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 9,002 521 265 786 07JAN2021
CT Hartford Juvenile 594 625 153 778 28APR2020
NV Las Vegas, Nevada 2,242 536 226 762 31JAN2020
ID Boise, Idaho 624 557 202 759 27APR2020
MI Detroit Juvenile 1,081 462 283 745 04MAR2021
TX Harlingen, Texas 2,999 576 169 745 30SEP2019
PA Philadelphia Juvenile 1,589 546 190 736 27DEC2019
AZ Arizona State Prison-Central Unit 27 654 74 728 04DEC2018
TX Southwest Key 1,791 505 209 714 12JAN2022
GA Summit Federal Building 7,016 220 483 703 30DEC2020
IL Chicago Non-Detained Juveniles 1,782 501 193 694 13DEC2021
TN Memphis Juvenile 846 438 253 691 19JUL2021
FL Orlando, Florida 13,509 408 265 673 30MAR2020
MN Bloomington Juvenile 602 308 350 658 10AUG2021
MD Baltimore, Maryland Juvenile 6,858 362 268 630 25NOV2019
AZ Arizona State Prison-Rynning Unit 32 547 83 630 10OCT2018
UT Salt Lake City, Utah 1,908 495 116 611 26APR2019
NV Las Vegas Juvenile 1,150 386 216 602 04FEB2020
PA Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 933 436 158 594 18FEB2020
NY Buffalo, New York 1,578 463 108 571 17JAN2019
CA San Francisco Non-Detained Juveniles 2,622 258 309 567 26MAY2021
NV Reno, Nevada 481 424 134 558 17JUN2019
AZ Tucson, Arizona 615 457 97 554 08MAR2019
NC Charlotte 12,068 357 190 547 01JUL2020
AZ Arizona DOC- Perryville 51 357 189 546 09MAY2019
CA San Diego, California 4,306 418 117 535 30MAY2019
AK Anchorage, Alaska 101 498 32 530 04DEC2018
GA Georgia Department of Corrections- Diagnostic 69 437 49 486 11SEP2018
IL Illinois DOC- Statesville 175 372 107 479 27NOV2018
TX San Antonio Non-Detained Juvenile 810 379 94 473 11DEC2018
HI Honolulu, Hawaii 597 287 182 469 18MAY2020
MP Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands 149 242 154 396 12SEP2019
NY Buffalo Juvenile 67 310 69 379 04DEC2018
NY Downstate Correctional Facility 85 339 39 378 10SEP2018
TX El Paso Juvenile 159 319 58 377 13SEP2018
OH Ohio Dept. of Corr., Correctional Reception Center - ORI 42 267 108 375 15FEB2019
VI St. Thomas, Virgin Islands 94 285 70 355 08AUG2018
PR San Juan, Puerto Rico 192 267 85 352 20DEC2018
TX Texas DOC- Huntsville 215 284 57 341 16OCT2018
WI Wisconsin Department of Corrections 32 262 60 322 14DEC2018
ND North Dakota Vtc 133 35 216 251 11MAR2020
CA San Diego Juvenile 317 159 80 239 21FEB2019
AZ Arizona DOC- Tucson 117 176 55 231 17OCT2018
NY Ulster Correctional Facility 127 175 44 219 18SEP2018
CT Connecticut Dept. of Correction 35 156 63 219 18OCT2018
CA Taft-Federal Corrections Institution 98 166 43 209 02OCT2018
VA Arlington Juvenile Detainees 82 144 58 202 19SEP2018
PA Pennsylvania Dept. of Corr., State Corr. Inst. 30 165 33 198 09OCT2018
TX Harlingen, Texas 966 92 96 188 08AUG2019
TX Boken Kamp Children's Center 38 178 7 185 05JUN2018
CA San Francisco Detained 315 142 36 178 31AUG2018
AZ Eloy INS Detention Center 908 128 47 175 08JAN2019
TX San Antonio Detained Juvenile 140 132 37 169 15AUG2018
TX El Paso Service Processing Center 474 138 26 164 02AUG2018
SD South Dakota Vtc 206 30 129 159 10JUN2020
LA Lasalle Detention Facility 419 140 17 157 06AUG2018
TX Swk- Casa Montezuma (Swkcmtx) 57 112 44 156 14AUG2018
NJ Elizabeth Video Hearings 28 132 24 156 31JUL2018
AZ Florence, Arizona 488 116 38 154 11OCT2018
GA Atlanta Detained Location 415 90 63 153 31OCT2019
WA Northwest Detention Center 1,069 71 78 149 14NOV2018
CA Otay Mesa Detention Center 662 108 38 146 03OCT2018
NY Batavia Service Processing Center 277 104 41 145 27SEP2018
TX Laredo, Texas - Detention Facility 230 76 67 143 30OCT2018
AZ Phoenix Juvenile 411 71 69 140 07DEC2018
PA Pike County Prison 73 98 39 137 29AUG2018
NJ Essex County Jail 554 107 30 137 15AUG2018
NY New York Service Processing Center (Varick St) 861 95 40 135 05SEP2018
IL Chicago Detained Juveniles 282 67 62 129 01NOV2018
TX T. Don Hutto Residential 114 91 37 128 14AUG2018
TX Houston Service Processing Center 323 103 25 128 31JUL2018
NJ Elizabeth Detention Center 202 91 30 121 30JUL2018
TX Southwest Key Program Casa Quetzal 85 83 35 118 24JUL2018
CA Juvenile Detained Sansome 37 69 48 117 20AUG2018
TX Conroe Swk 38 97 19 116 07AUG2018
TX BCFS 62 79 34 113 10JUL2018
GA Atlanta Immigration Court 665 78 34 112 24SEP2018
PA York County Prison 414 63 42 105 25SEP2018
CA Adelanto Detention Facility West 1,029 80 25 105 31JUL2018
NM Otero County Processing Center 323 71 29 100 01AUG2018
TX Dallas Detained 123 51 44 95 20AUG2018
VA Arlington Detained Location 429 70 25 95 31JUL2018
CA Adelanto Detention Facility East 184 71 24 95 26JUL2018
TX Pearsall, Texas - Detention Facility 813 60 34 94 12SEP2018
CA Imperial Detained 475 56 36 92 13SEP2018
CO Aurora Immigration Court 479 55 37 92 03OCT2018
IL Chicago Detained 615 57 34 91 11SEP2018
FL Krome North Service Processing Center 233 74 16 90 18JUL2018
GA Stewart Detention Center - Lumpkin Georgia - LGD 680 58 28 86 13AUG2018
OH Geauga County Detained 59 63 19 82 12JUL2018
TX Oklahoma City Detained 66 37 44 81 22AUG2018
TX Houston Female Detained 121 58 21 79 31JUL2018
OH Northeast Ohio Correctional Center 111 56 23 79 13AUG2018
FL Immigration Court 154 51 26 77 31JUL2018
TX David L. Moss Criminal Justice Center 33 58 19 77 26JUN2018
MN Bloomington Detained 193 57 20 77 26JUL2018
TX Joe Corley Detention Facility 469 54 21 75 30JUL2018
NV Pahrump 117 43 28 71 11SEP2018
NM Cibola County Correctional Center 26 51 18 69 24JUL2018
CA Los Angeles 3 357 51 17 68 23JUL2018
CA San Francisco Video 153 48 19 67 17AUG2018
TX Polk County Detention Facility 658 31 36 67 07AUG2018
TX Port Isabel Service Processing Center 312 35 31 66 20AUG2018
TX Prairieland Detention Center 177 44 21 65 17JUL2018
OH Butler County Sheriff's Office 57 50 15 65 05JUL2018
MI Detroit Detainees 198 41 23 64 26JUL2018
MA Boston Detained 187 48 16 64 18JUL2018
FL Broward Transitional Center 398 41 22 63 10AUG2018
MO Kansas City Immigration Court - Detained 118 46 17 63 17JUL2018
TX Joe Corley Detained Female 108 27 35 62 01AUG2018
NE Omaha Immigration Court - Detained 153 35 27 62 17JUL2018
FL Glades County Prison 114 41 19 60 24JUL2018
LA DHS-Litigation Unit/Oakdale 208 36 17 53 26JUL2018
OH Cleveland Detained Location 37 37 16 53 25JUN2018
TX Johnson County Jail 172 28 21 49 03JUL2018
TX Patrick E. Moore Detention Center 60 30 13 43 15AUG2018
TX Dilley - Stfrc 26 25 6 31 06JUN2018
* This table combined data from TRAC's backlog tool on the average days cases have "Already Waited" with how much longer on average cases must wait until their hearing is scheduled ("More Until Hearing"). In this table, the average "Projected Total Wait" combines these two figures into the average "Projected Total Wait" at each hearing location. Hearings not yet scheduled are assigned the latest hearing date currently scheduled at that location in computing average wait times. Note that hearings can be rescheduled sooner or moved later, so these statistics are merely projected figures for the average wait time based on the court's hearing schedule as of the end of May 2018.
** Court locations listed have at least 25 pending cases.

Footnotes

[1] Court records show that half of these are the initial master calendar hearing, while in the other half the schedule for the master calendar hearing has had to be reset.

TRAC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit data research center affiliated with the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Whitman School of Management, both at Syracuse University. For more information, to subscribe, or to donate, contact trac@syr.edu or call 315-443-3563.