How the government shutdown affected immigration court case backlog

The government is back open, but the effects of the partial government shutdown were far-reaching.

Immigration hearings for non-detained migrants were canceled during the shutdown. Immigration attorney Cynthia Lopez said the shutdown made an already vast backlog of cases even worse.

“Essentially if someone has been scheduled for a court hearing these past few weeks, they just haven’t had court,” Lopez said. “Some attorneys are saying they got rescheduled dates in the summer — June or July.”

According to a database from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse from Syracuse University, there’s more than 4,600 pending immigration cases in the El Paso area.

“If a client had a hearing today, and they’re coming in from out of town, we just had to tell them, you probably will not have your hearing if the government is still shutdown. If it re-opens, you have to be here. If you’re not here, the judges can order you to be removed,” Lopez said.

The government is funded until February 15th. If bipartisan leaders cannot come to an agreement, the government could shut down once again.

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