Case backlog in U.S. immigration courts surpassed 3 million open cases in November 2023. This represents an increase of an estimated 1 million cases over the last year. Based on information tracked by Syracuse University Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, it’s estimated that each immigration judge has roughly 4,500 cases to hear.

The outlook suggests that caseload will continue to grow and doing so at accelerating speeds. From the TRAC data, there was an average of 130,000 new cases per month from July to September 2023. However, from October and November of 2023, there are an additional 140,000 cases per month.

Not only is the backlog growing, but it is also taking longer for immigration courts to process the matters. Some asylum-seekers wait years for hearings to be scheduled. From the Migration Policy Institute, the backlog and excessive wait times for cases to be heard, irregular migration is becoming more attractive.

Several efforts have been made by the Biden Administration to reduce the backlog, including giving border patrol offers limited jurist power to dismiss or pause low-priority removal cases. Additional immigration judges have been named, increasing to 682 from 484 at the beginning of the Biden presidency. Those judges are closing cases at a faster rate as well. Over the last fiscal year, immigration judges closed an average of 975 cases. Under the Obama administration, judges closed an average 750 cases per fiscal year. Even with these improvements, the backlog continues to grow.

As always, ILBSG monitors ongoing updates to U.S. immigration policy. If you have questions about any U.S. immigration issue, contact us at ILBSG. We work with our clients to ensure they get the right advice.

Immigration backlog