Administration packs courtrooms, cuts hearing lead time to reduce backlog
The administration of President Donald Trump has packed immigration courtrooms and reduced the lead time on hearings as it works to cut backlogs and speed up cases, according to the report. The report said courts are increasingly denying asylum and that deportation officers have arrested immigrants in court hallways. It said the reduced lead time has prompted some people to miss their hearings.
On a recent morning in Sacramento, Kamalpreet Chohan, a lawyer who coordinates a program that sends volunteer attorneys to immigration courts, ran her finger down a list of 57 names scheduled for hearings at the immigration court in California’s capital. None of the people on the roster had a lawyer.
“None of these folks are represented,” she said.
The program Chohan coordinates sends volunteer lawyers to immigration courts to assist people without representation and help them navigate a legal system in which the outcome determines whether a person remains in the United States or is deported, according to the report.
Data shows that legal representation can be vital to winning in court. Many immigrants, unable to pay for a private lawyer or find a pro bono one, navigate the system without an attorney at their side.
“Folks go into immigration court not knowing what’s happening. They come out not knowing what’s happening. And when there’s an attorney present,” Chohan said, “it’s just so helpful.”