The backlog of immigration cases in U.S. courts is over 2 million matters, with over 800,000 of those being asylum issues. On average, the wait time for an asylum matter is more than four years for a hearing, per the TRAC report. TRAC is a research center affiliated with Syracuse University.

New policies announced by the Biden Administration aim to reduce unlawful migration to the United States and thereby limit the number of required legal proceedings. A parole program for individuals from Venezuela was enacted in October 2022, limiting the number of individuals the U.S. would accept each month. The parole program was expanded in January 2023, adding individuals from Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua. The parole program provides a legal pathway for a limited number of individuals, requiring U.S. sponsors and thorough vetting. Title 42 has also been expanded, giving border agents the ability to quickly expel asylum-seekers to Mexico. Migrants can now schedule their appearance appointment at the border, using the CBP One app. DHS is working on a new rule to turn away individuals who do not schedule their appearance in advance and enacts a five-year reentry ban. These policies may stem the flow of creating new cases for the courts, but unlikely that the backlog will be reduced because of these policies.

In 2022, individuals from Brazil, Columbia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, Russia, Peru, and the four countries included in the expanded parole program accounted for over 90% of new Notices to Appear.

Immigration courts received 244,000 new cases based on available data for FY2023, completing only 129,000 matters, increasing the backlog. Citing a resource issue, no administration has yet been able to solve the issue.

If you have questions about a notice to appear or any other immigration-related issue, please contact us. We work with our clients to ensure they get the right guidance for their particular situations.