Putting TRAC to Work
  Policy and Public Interest Groups
Migration Policy Institute
March 2011

Executive Action on Immigration: Six Ways to Make the System Work Better
By Donald M. Kerwin, Doris Meissner and Margie McHugh


From a high of nearly 1.7 million in fiscal year (FY) 2000, apprehensions have fallen to 463,382 in FY 2010, the lowest level since the early 1970s -- when large-scale illegal immigration in the United States began in earnest--and less than half the number as recently as 2006.......... [citing TRAC research] In FY 2010, the immigration court system received 392,888 removal cases and related legal matters, and completed 353,247. By the end of December 2010, the number of pending removal cases had reach a record 267,752, a 44 percent increase since FY 2008.........[citing TRAC research] The delays also stem from a lack of uniformity and rigor in referring cases to the immigration court system. Immigration judges have increasingly terminated cases based on finding noncitizens not removable as charged. In the first three quarters of FY2010, the number and percentage of terminated cases has hovered between 10 percent and 12 percent, with far higher rates in immigration courts in Los Angeles (27 percent)and Miami(24 percent........[citing TRAC research].


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Copyright 2011
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