COURTS/IMMIGRATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The nation’s chronically overburdened immigration courts are becoming even more crowded as a wave of undocumented immigrants enters the system and fewer are able to exit it. The 334 immigration judges working nationwide each juggle dockets of some 2,000 cases. The backlog has reached nearly 700,000, more than double what it was six years ago, and the average case is in court for more than two years. This frustrates people on both sides of the immigration debate. Court hearings are scheduled for months or years into the future, delaying deportations for those who have no right to stay and putting off permission to remain for those who do. The Trump administration has campaigned to increase arrests and deportations of undocumented immigrants. The number of pending cases has increased by more than 150,000—a 25% jump—since Donald Trump took office. The monthly increases during the Trump administration exceed all but the last two months of the Obama administration.”
-Laura Meckler and Alicia A. Caldwell, “The Glitch in Trump’s Immigration Campaign: Overloaded Courts,” The Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2018 11:38 am