Durbin Releases Statement for the Record For Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee Hearing on Immigration Courts

Statement

"I thank Chair Padilla for holding today’s important hearing, and I thank you the witnesses for
their testimony. I look forward to working with my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to address
this critical issue.

Our immigration courts are essential to a functional and orderly immigration system, but they are
in desperate need of reform and improvements. As of August 2023, there were more than 2.6
million pending cases before the nation’s immigration courts. As a result, many immigrants
must wait for years until their cases are decided.

While the Department of Justice has made significant progress in hiring more immigration
judges, reducing this backlog will require additional efforts. For example, similar advances have
not yet been made in hiring the support staff that judges need to help efficiently manage their
daily dockets, reduce the backlog, and stay on top of new cases.

The Trump Administration played a significant role in the growth of the backlog, due to the
Administration’s efforts to restrict the ability of immigration judges to manage their dockets.
For example, they restricted the use of administrative closure (when a case is temporarily
removed from the active docket, often to allow the respondent time for USCIS to adjudicate their
application for immigration relief). I was pleased to see the Department of Justice’s proposal to
reverse those harmful Trump Administration changes and codify administrative closure in
regulation. This will permit immigration judges to better manage their dockets and be more
efficient.

Access to legal counsel in immigration court also contributes significantly to court efficiency.
Unlike in criminal proceedings, noncitizens in removal proceedings have no right to counsel at
government expense. Noncitizens in removal proceedings generally show up for their hearings,
and having a lawyer actually further increases the rates at which immigrants show up.
Improving access to counsel thus is a win-win proposition, making courts more efficient,
increasing appearance rates, and helping ensure meritorious cases are successful.

Of course, there are other reasons why the backlog has increased. One is the large increase in
asylum seekers over the last several years. Because of the immigration court backlog, new
asylum seekers can wait years to have their cases processed. There is evidence that many of
these asylum seekers will follow the law and succeed in their claims. We should all be able to
agree that we must improve our immigration court system to ensure efficient and humane
processing of asylum seekers. Those who have meritorious claims should be able to get on with
their new lives in America, and those who do not should receive a prompt ruling so they are not
stuck in limbo for years.

The immigration court backlog has been building over the past 15 years across both Democratic
and Republican Administrations. As with so many aspects of our immigration system, we need
legislation to fix this problem.

To reduce the backlog, we must work together on a bipartisan basis to adequately fund the hiring
of additional judges and support staff, and improvements in technology. Congress must also act
to ensure that immigration courts are not subject to the political whims of any administration.

I welcome this opportunity to have a bipartisan discussion on how we can improve our
immigration court system. "

Source