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The Executive Office of Immigration Review, known informally as immigration court, operates with authority from the Department of Justice. The court decides whether foreign-born individuals, who are charged by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with violating immigration law, should be ordered removed from the United States or should be granted relief or protection from removal and be permitted to remain in this country.
According to Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a non-partisan organization that tracks federal enforcement, staffing, and spending, the immigration court in Boston is among the most backlogged in the nation. The court handles immigration cases in all New England States except Connecticut.
Massachusetts is second only to California in the amount of time cases are before the court. The average time for all cases now pending in the Boston immigration court is 617 days, according to TRAC. For cases where the court has issued a decision, the average case took 497 days. The data covers cases pending or decided up to May 4, 2011.
The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), say in places where Secure Communities is in place, the program is not meeting ICE's stated goals. In Boston, the only Massachusetts city that has signed on to Secure Communities, more than half of those deported through the program had no criminal convictions of any kind, MIRA said in a statement on its website. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has threatened to pull out of Secure Communities because of concern that the program is not focusing on the most dangerous criminals.
TRAC data supports that contention. From 2005 to 2009, Congress more than doubled the amount of funding for ICE detention and removal operations. The number of detainees rose dramatically over those years. According to TRAC, the number of people detained because they were convicted of crimes remained about the same. The data shows the number of detainees without any criminal record doubled.
The statistics do not differentiate the seriousness of the crime. ICE uses the term "criminal aliens" to describe those convicted of serious crimes like murder, armed robbery, drug smuggling, and human trafficking. Also included are those convicted of traffic offenses, and disorderly conduct. It also includes immigration violations such as illegal entry into the United States, which is classified as a petty offense under federal law.
Massachusetts is second only to California in the amount of time cases are before the court. The average time for all cases now pending in the Boston immigration court is 617 days, according to TRAC. For cases where the court has issued a decision, the average case took 497 days. The data covers cases pending or decided up to May 4, 2011.
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