One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.
After the shutdown, it's hurry up and wait in LA's immigration court
A crowd lines up to get into the immigration court on Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles in Oct. 2018.
(
Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC
)
Listen
3:59
After the shutdown, it's hurry up and wait in LA's immigration court
The Trump administration has said for some time that it wants to reduce immigration court backlogs and speed up deportation cases. But the recent government shutdown has had the opposite effect, with tens of thousands of hearings canceled and start-up glitches as courts reopened.
Immigrants whose hearings were canceled are expected to receive notices in the mail with a new date to appear. It's not clear how far out they'll be rescheduled. Immigration courts are already heavily backlogged, with more then 800,000 pending cases nationwide.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
