The Biden administration announced a new fast-track docket in immigration courts that aims to reduce the time it takes to decide asylum claims from years to months for some single adults. Migrants settling in five major cities – Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York – will be placed in a “recent arrivals docket” that aims to have judges rule on their claims within 180 days, instead of the four years it currently takes. The bottlenecked courts are seen as a significant incentive for more people to come, especially those with weak claims. The Justice Department has assigned 10 judges to the effort, but the exact number of cases they will handle remains unclear.
Officials stated that the failure of a sweeping Senate bill earlier this year has resulted in the absence of bolder moves, with the administration aiming to enforce the law and discourage irregular migration. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas mentioned that this administrative step is not a substitute for the changes that the bipartisan Senate bill would have brought, but in the absence of Congressional action, the administration is taking steps to address immigration issues. The chosen five cities were selected based on the availability of judges to hear cases and the fact that they are major destinations for migrants.
Asylum seekers are eligible for work permits within six months of arrival, which critics argue is an incentive for them to come even if their claims are weak. The longer individuals stay in the U.S. and establish family or community ties, the harder it becomes to eventually send them back to their home countries. The administration has been trying to expedite the asylum process for new arrivals for years, with previous attempts by the Obama and Trump administrations to accelerate certain cases on a separate track dating back to 2014.
In 2021, the Biden administration introduced a “dedicated docket” for asylum-seeking families in 10 cities to have their cases decided within 300 days. In 2022, a plan was introduced to have asylum officers, instead of immigration judges, decide a limited number of family claims in nine cities. However, critics argue that these initiatives have not effectively slowed migration, with former immigration judge Dana Leigh Marks stating that previous “rocket dockets” did not allow asylum seekers, even those who could afford it, to hire attorneys due to lack of time. Marks believes that the latest policy is merely a superficial response to a much larger issue.
A labor representative for immigration judges expressed concerns about the latest effort potentially undermining individuals’ rights to a fair hearing. The immigration court backlog currently stands at 3.6 million cases, with roughly 600 judges spread across 68 courts. The plan announced does not include funding for additional judges, and it comes on the heels of another new policy aimed at rejecting the claims of public safety threats at earlier stages of the process. The overall goal of these initiatives is to streamline the asylum process and address the challenges faced by the overwhelmed immigration court system.
