TRAC: Civil Immigration Offenses Account for 80% of Immigration Court Deportation Orders

"Immigration Court judges have ordered 82,878 individuals deported so far this fiscal year, according to the latest data as of the end of August. But in only 16,375 of these cases, about one out of every five, had the government sought the removal order because of criminal or other activity that posed a threat to public safety; the remainder involved various immigration charges.

These new filings contribute to a workload that already outstrips the capacity of the limited number of Immigration Court judges. As a result, the court's backlog of cases awaiting hearing has increased to 408,307 as of the end of August.

So far this fiscal year, deportation was ordered in just over half (50.2 percent) of Immigration Court dispositions. The highest percentage of deportation orders were issued by immigration courts in Georgia (77.4 percent) and Louisiana (75.4 percent). The lowest proportion of deportation orders this year were issued by the courts in Oregon (25.8 percent) and New York (30.0 percent).

For the latest figures on removal orders, go to:

http://trac.syr.edu/imm/deport_outcome_charge

For specifics on the rising backlog of cases awaiting disposition, see:

http://trac.syr.edu/imm/court_backlog

TRAC is self-supporting and depends on foundation grants, individual contributions and subscription fees for the funding needed to obtain, analyze and publish the data we collect on the activities of the US Federal government. To help support TRAC's ongoing efforts, go to:

http://trac.syr.edu/sponsor/" - TRAC, Sept. 11, 2014.