Biden Administration Plans to Put Some Deportations on Hold to Reduce Immigration Court Backlog

Official White House Photo

Earlier this year, the backlog of cases in the immigration courts hit more than 1.6 million.

Hamed Aleaziz for Buzzfeed News reports on the Biden administration’s approach to reducing the backlog.  According to an internal memo, the immigration courts will put on hold removal cases of certain immigrants who may gain legal status outside of the immigration court system.  The approach “falls in line with efforts at [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to reshape the role of immigration enforcement in the US by focusing on what it considers more serious targets. Biden officials issued a memo to [trial attorneys] earlier this month authorizing them to consider dismissing certain cases involving immigrants who did not cross the border recently and are not public safety threats.”

The internal memo to immigration judges details how the Executive Office for Immigration Review may put on hold certain removal cases involving immigrants, including those who have applications pending with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services for immigration benefits such as a lawful permanent resident status through a family member.

Official White House Photo

The Trump administration took a very different approach to reducing the backlog of cases.  Attorney General Jeff Sessions placed quotas on the number of cases they should complete annually, ended their authority to close others, restricted asylum, and reinstituted thousands of previously closed cases.  Many immigration judges retired or resigned, claiming Trump administration interference in how they judged cases.

Earlier this year, Representative Zoe Lofgren introduced in the House a bill that would make the immigration courts more independent.

KJ