Tag: Tory Johnson

AIC: DATA IN NEW REPORT CLEARLY SHOWS THAT FAMILY DETENTION DIMINISHES DUE PROCESS WITHOUT OFFSETTING POSITIVES – So, Why Do Administrations Of Both Parties Keep Resorting To, & Even “Doubling Down On” This Expensive, Wasteful, & Repugnant Practice?

http://immigrationimpact.com/2018/08/16/detention-family-separation-government-data/#disqus_thread

Tory Johnson reports in Immigraton Impact:

In the wake of the government separating thousands of asylum-seeking families, the Trump administration has scrambled to reunite families. In place of family separation, the administration is pursuing the expansion of an equally horrific practice: holding families in detention camps. This practice has sadly persisted in the United States since 2001.

Neither option—separation or detention—is suitable for families. According to a recent study that analyzed 15 years of government data, detention poses significant barriers to justice for asylum-seeking families. The study’s findings, released this week in a report from the American Immigration Council, provide further evidence that detaining families seeking protection is unnecessary, costly, and inhumane.

The United States currently detains more asylum-seeking families than any nation in the world—even without the expansion proposed by the current administration. This practice has skyrocketed since 2001, when the United States began operating the first detention center to exclusively hold families. But what do we know about the impact of detaining families?

Until now, there was little information about how detained families fare in the immigration court process and what barriers they face in pursuing their asylum claims. “Detaining Families: A Study of Asylum Adjudication in Family Detention” is the first empirical study of family detention and the U.S. immigration court process. The report presents the analysis of government records from more than 18,000 immigration proceedings initiated between fiscal years 2001 and 2016, which involved families held in one of five family detention centers in the United States.

The findings detailed in the report are vital as the government weighs policies that affect asylum seekers and the immigration courts. The report reveals that over the course of 15 years, the United States relied on—and overused—detention in various ways to imprison families seeking asylum, sometimes for prolonged periods.

The thousands of family members included in the study faced serious barriers accessing the court system and a fair asylum process. Notably, the report finds that access to legal representation is limited in detention and in fast-track removal proceedings. Having counsel is critical when navigating the U.S. immigration system—and may be the difference between life and death for an asylum seeker.

These hurdles are particularly concerning given the findings from the period studied (2001 to 2016), which show that families pursue viable claims for protection and had increased representation when released from detention.

Specifically, the main findings discussed in the report include:

  • Family members who were released from detention had high compliance rates; the overwhelming majority (86 percent) of family members released from detention showed up for their court hearings.
  • Representation increased among family members who were released from detention; 76 percent of released family members were represented by counsel at their most recent merits hearing, whereas only 47 percent of family members who remained detained had counsel.
  • Family members who were released from detention and obtained counsel had a relatively high rate of success in their completed cases; 49 percent of released family members with counsel successfully obtained relief from removal. This rate dropped significantly for unrepresented family members who remain detained—only 8 percent had the same success in their cases.

In addition, the report reveals the important role that the immigration courts can play in maintaining due process in asylum proceedings. While the courts are vulnerable to variability based on different jurisdictions, they serve as a vital check on the detention decisions of immigration officials. For example, in the period studied, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers issued initial custody decisions that unnecessarily prolonged the detention of families. These decisions were regularly overturned after immigration judges found that family members were eligible for release.

The study adds to mounting evidence against family detention, underlining the fact that detaining families is unnecessary, costly, and inhumane. In contrast, the study’s findings provide strong support for different policy choices—ones that uphold access to justice for families and respect a system with checks and balances.

As a country, we must choose policies in line with our values and end the horrible practice of detaining families. Family unity does not, and should not, require imprisonment.

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One obvious answer as to why this horrible and counterproductive practice remains prevalent across Administrations of both parties: although punishment, deterrence, and “sending messages” are not appropriate reasons for immigration detention, that’s what’s really at work here. Even though there is little or no documentable “deterrent value” to such detention, Administrations of both parties like to send “hard-line border enforcement” messages to certain constituencies. Add to that individuals and entities from both parties who stand to profit from immigration detention, and you have a prescription for a major disaster.  Not surprisingly, that’s exactly what overuse of immigration detention has been!

Ironically, the Trump Administration’s widespread public misuse of immigration detention has focused public attention on its immorality and wastefulness, and therefore might ultimately lead to the curtailment of the practice.

PWS

08-20-18

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http://immigrationimpact.com/2017/06/08/immigration-courts-backlog/

Tory Johnson writes in Immigration Impact:

“Anyone familiar with the immigration system knows that the immigration courts have an enormous backlog which has persisted—and grown—for more than a decade. As of April 2017, the immigration court backlog topped 585,930 cases, more than double the pending cases in fiscal year (FY) 2006 (212,000).

The immigration court backlog means that many people wait years to have their cases resolved. According to a June 2017 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the average time a case remains pending with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)—the office within the Department of Justice that adjudicates immigration cases—has increased. In FY 2006, cases took an average of 198 days to complete; now the average is 650 days.

For years government officials, external stakeholders, and others have attributed the growing backlog to staffing shortages, lack of resources, and changing priorities. GAO’s recent analysis affirms some of these problems, but found that average case completion times increased—from 43 days in FY 2006 to 286 days in FY 2015—even though the number of immigration judges increased by 17 percent in the last decade.

So what’s making cases take longer in immigration court, and contributing to the backlog?

In part, judges are taking more time to complete cases, especially as new hires get up to speed. Respondents to GAO’s investigation most commonly cited a lack of adequate staff as a cause of the backlog, but “immigration judges from five of the six courts [GAO] contacted also stated that they do not have sufficient time to conduct administrative tasks, such as case-related legal research or staying updated on changes to immigration law.”

Indeed, over the 10-year period, judges issued 54 percent more case continuances, or a temporary postponement of case proceedings, on their own volition—due to unplanned leave or insufficient time to complete a hearing, for example. Immigration judges may also grant a continuance to allow respondents time to obtain legal representation— since immigrants do not receive government-provided counsel— which demonstrably shortens the length of a case.

There is concern that the backlog may only worsen under the current administration. In order to carry out President Trump’s directives to ramp up immigration enforcement and deportations, the Justice Department has started relocating immigration judges. But transferring judges—many of whom have been reassigned to detention centers—for the purpose of speeding up immigration cases has alarmed immigration experts, who fear case delays will increase in immigration judges’ usual courts, adding to the backlog.

While the directives were not analyzed in GAO’s review, the report’s focus on systemic issues exacerbating the backlog makes the plans to shuffle judges to new courts all the more concerning.

GAO made 11 recommendations in the following areas that would “better position EOIR to address its case backlog and help improve the agency’s overall effectiveness and efficiency in carrying out its important mission.” The recommendations included implementing better workplace planning and hiring practices; building an electronic filing system with oversight and management mechanisms; video-teleconferencing (VTC) assessments to ensure neutral outcomes; and creating efficient management practices and comprehensive performance measures for all cases.

While some of these issues are being addressed—such as implementing a plan to streamline hiring—GAO found that the efforts EOIR cited do not fully address the concerns outlined in the report. In particular, EOIR is lacking comprehensive technological capabilities, data on VTC hearings, performance assessments, and short- and long-term plans for staffing needs created by the 39 percent of retirement-eligible immigration judges.

The shortcomings further demonstrate the GAO’s conclusion that EOIR is lacking critical management, accountability, and performance evaluation systems. These mechanisms are essential for EOIR and oversight bodies, such as Congress, to accurately assess the immigration courts and ensure that EOIR is achieving its mission, which includes timely adjudication of all cases.

EOIR should take the GAO’s recommendations seriously and work to implement solutions—the fates of hundreds of thousands of people literally depend on it.”

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Sadly, the necessary changes are way beyond the capability of EOIR and the DOJ, particularly in light of current political leadership in the DOJ which seems determined to run the courts into the ground with ill-advised maximum enforcement initiatives and “aimless docket reshuffling.” EOIR has been an agency within the DOJ since 1983. It actually performs measurably worse today than it did in 2000. Expecting a “turnaround” within the DOJ is like expecting the Tooth Fairy to solve this problem.

You can check out my previous blog on the GAO report here:

http://immigrationcourtside.com/2017/06/02/gao-report-recommends-improvements-in-u-s-immigration-court-hiring-technology-data-analysis-oversight/

Note that the GAO discusses independent structures for the U.S. Immigration Court, but does not include a particular recommendation on that point.

But, I have one! We need an independent United States Immigration Court now! Otherwise the Immigration Court’s “due process meltdown” is eventually going to paralyze a large segment of the U.S. justice system. Yes, folks, it’s that bad! Maybe even worse, since DOJ and EOIR are “circling the wagons” to avoid public scrutiny and accountability. Tell your legislative representatives that we need an independent court now!

PWS

06-14-17

 

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