Cornyn Co-Sponsors Bill To Give Texas Three Additional Federal Trial Judges

Press Release

Cornyn Co-Sponsors Bill To Give Texas Three Additional Federal Trial Judges

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, made the following statement Wednesday regarding a new study that shows Texas needs additional judges to handle the increasing number of immigration cases. The Judicial Conference recently released its 2007 judgeship recommendations, calling for two permanent judges in the Southern District of Texas and one permanent judge for the Western District of Texas.

"This legislation would provide much needed relief to the federal judiciary in Texas and other states along Southwest Border that are struggling with the increased demands caused by the rapidly rising number of immigration cases. These cases now account for the majority of criminal filings in the Southern and Western Districts of Texas.

"Federal trial courts, particularly those near the Southwest Border, have been overburdened by immigration filings for several years. The need for new judgeships to handle the growing number of cases is long overdue. I'll work with my colleagues of both parties in the Senate and House to address this critical need, particularly as we move forward to reform our broken immigration system."

Sen. Cornyn co-sponsored legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., S. 1192, to address the need. It is an updated version of a bill introduced earlier this year to reflect the findings of the Judiciary Conference report.

According to the new report, in fiscal year 2006, the Southern District of Texas saw an immigration case increase of 70 percent; the Western District of Texas's cases increased by 50 percent. For more information, click here: http://www.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/cmsd2006.pl.

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