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1 1 (November 26, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goverkd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Immigration Courts: Decline in New Cases at the End of FY2024 November 26, 2024 Immigration courts within the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) adjudicate immigration cases; most commonly, fonnal removal proceedings under Section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The number of pending cases (backlog) in immigration courts has grown each year since FY2006 and has ballooned in recent years. It exceeded 1 million for the first time in FY2019, reached nearly 2.5 million at the end of FY2023, and was approximately 3.6 million at the end of FY2024. Several factors have contributed to the backlog, both internal and external to EOIR, including immigration court resources and staffing, increased immigration enforcement, changing migrant arrival patterns at the U.S.-Mexico border, and disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, among others. In recent years, the backlog increased alongside unprecedented levels of migration across the U.S.- Mexico border by migrants-often seeking asylum-without authorization to enter the country. As a result, EOIR received record levels of new cases. In June 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiated new policy changes at the Southwest border designed to limit access to asylum; since then, there has been a decline in new EOIR filings and growth in the court backlog has slowed. At the Southwest border, DHS's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commences formal removal proceedings when it charges a foreign national with an immigration violation and files a Notice to Appear charging document with an immigration court. Some individuals are detained while they await proceedings; others may be released at DHS discretion. During removal proceedings, an immigration judge (IJ) considers DHS's charges and any applications for relief or protection (e.g., asylum) that the person has filed. Alternatively, CBP may process recent arrivals encountered at or near the border for expedited removal, and remove them from the United States without a formal hearing. DHS generally has discretion to process an arriving migrant for formal or expedited removal. A person in expedited removal who expresses an intention to apply for asylum or a fear of persecution or torture if they were to be removed may undergo a credible fear screening with an asylum officer (within DHS's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). If the individual demonstrates that they may qualify for asylum or other protection, they may be placed in formal removal proceedings and file an application for such relief/protection; otherwise, they may be removed. Individuals awaiting credible fear screenings are Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12463 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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