McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The Biden administration on Thursday launched a new rocket docket process in five cities to quickly screen and remove unqualifying migrants who cross the border seeking U.S. asylum.
The announcement came the same day as several reports that the Biden administration plans to shut down the Southwest border if migrant encounters exceed 4,000 per day.
The Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice said Thursday that the new Recent Arrivals Docket process will more expeditiously resolve immigration cases for non-citizen single adults who arrive between legal U.S. ports of entry.
A similar rocket docket system for families called the Dedicated Docket was started in 2021. However, migrant advocates said the system did not allow families enough time to gather information and plead immigration cases.
Haitian immigrants wait to board a bus in Del Rio, Texas, on Sept. 21, 2021, after being legally released by the Department of Homeland Security after crossing the border. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report File Photo)
Federal officials promise this new program will be fair and reduce the wait time for thousands of asylum-seekers and the costs associated with their stay if they do not qualify to be in the country.
“Today, we are instituting with the Department of Justice a process to accelerate asylum proceedings so that individuals who do not qualify for relief can be removed more quickly and those who do qualify can achieve protection sooner,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said asylum-seekers will receive fair but quick screenings.
“These measures will advance that mission by helping to ensure that immigration cases are adjudicated promptly and fairly,” Garland said.
The current backlog for pending U.S. immigration cases is almost 3.6 million, and 1.2 million immigrants are waiting for asylum hearings, according to Transactional Access Records Clearinghouse of Syracuse University, which tracks immigration cases nationwide.
(TRAC Graphics)
Under the new process, non-citizen single adults will be put in the Recent Arrivals Docket and adjudicators from the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which oversees immigration courts, will prioritize adjudication of their cases. It will operate in these five cities:
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Los Angeles
New York City
Immigration judges will strive to render final decisions in cases within 180 days, or six months.
The wait time in Fiscal Year 2023 for pending immigration cases from the time the migrant was issued a Notice to Appear to their case ruling was 601 days, according to TRAC.
However, federal officials said final decisions will “remain subject to case-specific circumstances and procedural protections, including allowing time for noncitizens to seek representation where needed.”
There are fewer than 700 immigration judges nationwide. That means each judge averages about 5,000 immigration cases.
Last week, EOIR announced the additional hiring of 2 new immigration appellate judges and 18 new immigration judges in courts in California, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.
“This rule is an important step the Justice Department is taking to promote the efficient, expeditious, and fair adjudication of immigration cases, allocate limited resources more efficiently, and ensure procedural protections for parties in immigration court,” officials said.
Mayorkas stressed, however, that Congress must reform immigration policies.
“This administrative step is no substitute for the sweeping and much-needed changes that the bipartisan Senate bill would deliver, but in the absence of Congressional action we will do what we can to most effectively enforce the law and discourage irregular migration,” Mayorkas said.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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