Time for a Close Look at the Immigration Courts

Although Attorney General Eric Holder unquestionably has his hands full, we hope that he takes a careful look at the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which is housed in the Department of Justice and includes both the Board of Immigration Appeals and the immigration courts.  Long criticized by, among others former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Judge Richard Posner, for the treatment of immigrants and the quality of decisionmaking, it also appears that the immigration adjudicatory machinery is severely understaffed, a problem made worse by the increase in cases over the last few years due to ramped up enforcement.

For the latest on the caseload crisis on the immigration bench, click here.  NPR reports that, In fiscal year 2007, 214 immigration judges oversaw nearly 350,000 cases. And they have little help, the ratio of law clerks to immigration judges makes it so that most judges have one-sixth of a law clerk.   in contrast, the U.S. Supreme Court, with a bevy of law clerks, decides fewer than 100 cases a year.

I met three immigration court judges this weekend, who in their personal capacity, judged the final round of the Second Annual Immigration and Asylum National Moot Court Competition hosted by UC Davis School of Law.  They were super judges and knew their immigration law.  However, without the staff to handle a crushing caseload, the caseload can  be just that — crushing.

KJ