Within his first weeks of office, President Joe Biden has sent Congress a hefty immigration reform bill outlining a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, expanding DACA applications, and reviewing Migrant Protection Protocols, which send immigrants back to Mexico while awaiting their case review. Trying to undo his predecessor’s immigration policy, Biden is facing the “paper wall” of immigration, an immense backlog within the courts.
On January 1, there were 1.3 million cases pending in immigration courts, with about 360,000 of those cases being asylum seeking. This is a doubled number since Trump took office in 2017, where 542,411 cases were pending. The backlog includes people from over 200 countries. California is seeing the biggest backlog with 187,000 waiting cases, and Texas is second with 162,000 cases. Vice President Kamala Harris has voiced her support for hiring more immigration lawyers to speed up the process, with the average wait time for a hearing being 4.8 years.
COVID-19 is also throwing a wrench into Biden’s immigration plan as in person interviews have become minimized to accommodate social distancing guidelines. In person interviews, conducted to screen for fraud and security threats, usually consist of many diplomats sitting side by side in small offices enclosed by bulletproof glass. Chris Richardson, an immigration lawyer, stated, “the consular section is a poorly ventilated space where the coronavirus could easily spread.” This contributes to the large backup and delayed wait time, leaving Biden uncertain of what steps to take next.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding immigration laws, please contact CIMA Law Group.
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