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Can anything fix the immigration court backlog in LA and nationally?
A crowd lines up to get into the immigration court on Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles in October 2018.
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Leslie Berestein Rojas/KPCC
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Can anything fix the immigration court backlog in LA and nationally?
The backlog of pending cases in immigration court nationally and in Los Angeles has spiked by nearly 50 percent since the start of fiscal year 2017.
A backlog of pending cases in immigration court countrywide and in Los Angeles has spiked by nearly 50 percent since the start of fiscal year 2017.
This comes as a caravan of migrants from Central America are gathered at ports of entry in Mexico and seeking asylum that could add to the backlog if they are allowed to apply and their cases move forward.
Los Angeles is especially impacted by the caseload as the nation’s second-busiest immigration court, where about 40 judges juggle nearly 74,000 cases.
Officials say they’re working on reducing the backlog and the delays that have resulted. Dozens more judges have been hired in recent months. But critics say President Trump’s immigration policies are making matters worse.
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