Calls for Reform of Immigration Court System Continue

For years, there have been cries for reform of the immigration court system, including more independent immigration courts.  Housed in the Department of Justice, the Executive Office for Immigration Review is the home of the immigration court system.   The Biden administration has sought to address the huge backlog of cases in the immigration courts.  A bill that would restructure immigration courts to be Article 1 tribunals, the “Real Courts, Rule of Law Act,” was introduced earlier this year by Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Hank Johnson (D-GA).  Scott Bixby for the Daily Beast reviews the arguments for radical reform of the immigration courts.  He notes that

“the sweeping, by government standards, tactics announced by the administration last month—which include adding as many as 100 new immigration court judges to the bench under Biden’s latest budget proposal, allowing asylum officers to evaluate some cases instead of those same overburdened judges, and encouraging Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorneys to clear `low priority’ cases—may still not be enough to make a real dent in the backlog of cases that has reached its highest point ever.”

KJ