Government Shutdown Contributing To Backlog Of Immigration Cases Across US

The partial government shutdown is entering its third week and it’s not helping the current backlog of immigration cases across the country.

There're an estimated 775,000 backlogged immigration cases throughout the U.S. and more than 100,000 of those cases are in Texas, according to the most recent data from Syracuse University.

The backlog has been growing for years now and New York City immigration judge Amiena Khan, who is also the executive vice president of the National Association of Immigration Judges and is speaking on behalf of the organization, said the government shutdown is exacerbating the problem.

Khan said people within the “non-detained” docket, which are usually those in removal proceedings and are not waiting in detention, can't have their cases heard.

Read more: http://www.tpr.org/post/government-shutdown-contributing-backlog-immigration-cases-across-us