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The families, once dropped off near the border, can then make their way into the U.S. and present themselves to authorities and seek asylum. With a soaring 850,000-case immigration court backlog, the average case takes nearly three years to resolve, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
The long court backlog — which has grown by 66 percent since fiscal year 2016 — means even migrants with unsuccessful asylum claims can spend years in the U.S.
Another magnet for migration to the U.S. is one that Trump has acknowledged: the strong job market, which is a draw for migrants looking for better work opportunities.
The number of non-Mexican migrants arrested along the southwest border dropped steeply in fiscal year 2007 — the run-up to the Great Recession — and stayed low for the next four years. That drop-off suggests migrants weren’t eager to travel to the U.S. in the midst of an economic crisis.
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