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Immigration court: A ‘maddening’ system with stressed judges, long waits, lives in limbo
judges are at the heart of a bloated immigration court system saddled by explosive growth, a troubled reputation and a record backlog estimated at nearly 268,000 cases. The problems are drawing increased scrutiny of a little-seen world where justice can seem arbitrary, lives can remain in limbo for years — and blame seems to be in abundance.
There are lawyers who accuse immigration judges of bias, stall tactics and incompetence. Judges who criticize lawyers as unprepared. Advocacy groups who say some immigrants don’t even understand the proceedings — and in extreme cases, are unfairly deported.
“It is a maddening system,” says Chuck Roth, director of litigation at the Heartland Alliance National Immigrant Justice Center. “It really doesn’t get us anywhere toward justice.”
