There's a near-record immigration case backlog as number of judges drops, report says

A new report out from the Migration Policy Institute looks at how asylum restrictions under the Trump and Biden administrations have exacerbated a growing backlog in immigration court.

Federal data shows nearly 3.8 million deportation cases are pending in U.S. immigration court. That’s the most recent figure from July of this year — and it was nearing a historic high of pending cases at the end of the last fiscal year.

Report co-author Kathleen Bush-Joseph, policy analyst with the U.S. Immigration Policy program at the Migrant Policy Institute, says asylum cases rose sharply amid high border apprehensions under Biden. Now, immigration judges who oversee those cases are being pushed out under the Trump administration.

“If there aren’t the judges and asylum officers to hear these cases, this could be a holdup for their agenda,” Bush-Joseph said.

Bush-Joseph’s report shows at least 139 immigration judges have been fired, transferred or taken early retirement since January. The Trump administration is planning to send military lawyers to fill the gap, but legal questions remain. Bush-Joseph says executive actions by both President Biden and Trump have had an impact.

But, legislation to amend issues within the immigration court system rests with Congress.

“It’s Congress that sets the funding for the immigration courts, and prioritizes, repeatedly, enforceable over adjudication. But ultimately that’s to the detriment of enforcement as well as protection aims,” she said.

The "Big, Beautiful Bill" passed by Congress earlier this year provides some $170 billion for immigration enforcement all told, but none of the funding goes toward immigration court.