As US immigration courts opened on Monday to the 86,000 cases that were canceled during the shutdown, attorneys speculatde that it could take years to get through this backlog.
As of the end of November, it was estimated that there were more than 800,000 cases pending before the immigration courts.
Jennifer Williams, an immigration law attorney at Legal Aid in New York City said, “They’re going to be playing catch-up for years.”
These courts were closed, unlike the Federal District Courts, because they are funded by the Department of Justice. During the shutdown the courts were only hearing cases from those who were in custody.
