Immigration Law

Recent Posts

PRACTICE ALERT: APRIL 2023 VISA BULLETIN CHANGES IMPACTING SIJS RECIPIENTS
Posted on 26 Mar 2023 by Daniel M. Kowalski

End SIJS Backlog Coalition, Mar. 24, 2023 "On March 22, 2023, the U.S. Department of State (“State Department”) released the April 2023 Visa Bulletin, in which it announced significant changes to the way certain employment-based visas... Read More

A Sober Assessment of the Growing U.S. Asylum Backlog: TRAC
Posted on 22 Dec 2022 by Daniel M. Kowalski

TRAC, Dec. 22, 2022 "The latest available data reveal that the number of asylum seekers waiting for asylum hearings in the U.S. has now reached at least 1,565,966 individuals. About half of this total are waiting for hearings before judges in the... Read More

Tags: backlog , asylum

Tracy Short Email: Taking Cases Off Calendar
Posted on 3 Aug 2022 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Here is an email to all Immigration Courts from former Chief Immigration Judge Tracy Short, dated April 26, 2022, regarding taking cases off calendar: "Pursuant to the authority to "ensure the efficient disposition of all pending cases,"... Read More

Immigration Court Case Backlog Nears Two Million!
Posted on 16 Jul 2022 by Daniel M. Kowalski

TRAC, July 15, 2022 "Pace of Immigration Court Processing Increases While Backlog Continues to Climb (15 Jul 2022) The latest case-by-case records show that the Immigration Court backlog reached 1,821,440 at the end of June 2022. This is up 25... Read More

CRS on U.S. Immigration Courts and the Pending Cases Backlog
Posted on 28 Apr 2022 by Daniel M. Kowalski

CRS, Apr. 25, 2022 "... EOIR has become increasingly unable to adjudicate in a timely manner the hundreds of thousands of cases it receives from DHS each year and, as a result, immigration courts have a large and growing backlog of pending cases... Read More

82,645 Appeals Pending at the BIA
Posted on 9 Mar 2022 by Daniel M. Kowalski

As of Jan. 19, 2022 there are 82,645 appeals pending at the BIA. Read More

Tags: Appeals , bia , backlog , eoir

Crippling USCIS Work Permit Backlog Hurts Everyone
Posted on 17 Feb 2022 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Nicole Narea, Vox, Feb. 16, 2022 "Amid nationwide labor shortages in critical industries, more than a million immigrants are waiting on the US government to issue them work permits. Without these permits, many could lose their jobs, and some already... Read More

Immigration Courts Now Face Backlog of Over 1.5 Million Cases
Posted on 20 Dec 2021 by Daniel M. Kowalski

TRAC, Dec. 20, 2021 "According to data updated today by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, the number of pending cases in Immigration Court has now reached 1,559,855 as of the end of November 2021. The... Read More

Expert: Congress Can Fix Visa Backlog
Posted on 11 Dec 2021 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Prof. Stephen W. Yale-Loehr, Dec. 10, 2021 "A doctor from India came to the U.S. in 2006, completed an internal medicine residency in New York, and is now working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in Virginia. He has risked his own life... Read More

Tags: backlog , visas

GAO: USCIS Should Address Growing Caseload
Posted on 22 Sep 2021 by Daniel M. Kowalski

GAO, August 2021; released Sept. 17, 2021 "U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services processes millions of applications and petitions from noncitizens who want to temporarily stay or live in the country, obtain work authorization, or become U.S... Read More

Tags: backlog , USCIS , GAO

Hispanic Federation Launches ‘Caminos De Esperanza’ Initiative To Help Tackle Immigration Case Backlog
Posted on 17 Sep 2021 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Matthew Peddie, WMFE, Sept. 17, 2021 "The Hispanic Federation says it will help fund organizations across the country which are working on a backlog of immigration cases. Eleven organizations will each receive a $100,000 grant through the federation’s... Read More

Immigration Court Cases Jump in June 2021; Delays Double This Year
Posted on 28 Jul 2021 by Daniel M. Kowalski

TRAC, July 28, 2021 "The number of new deportation cases filed by the Biden administration is on the rise. Deportation orders sought by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) jumped by nearly 50 percent in June, compared with the number filed... Read More

Biden Administration Faces Backlog of 380,000 Waiting to Immigrate
Posted on 3 Feb 2021 by Daniel M. Kowalski

Caleb Hampton, New York Times, Feb. 3, 2021 "A State Department official said in federal court last month that, as of Dec. 31, more than 380,000 immigrant visa applicants were awaiting a consular interview. Immigration experts said it would take... Read More

Trump Leaves Biden 1.3 Million Case Backlog in Immigration Courts: TRAC
Posted on 21 Jan 2021 by Daniel M. Kowalski

TRAC, Jan. 19, 2021 "This report provides an overview of the magnitude and composition of the current active court case backlog. The portrait provides a baseline against which the impact on the backlog of future changes in the Biden Administration's... Read More

FY 2021 Begins with Largest Immigration Court Backlog on Record: TRAC
Posted on 24 Nov 2020 by Daniel M. Kowalski

TRAC, Nov. 24, 2020 "Fiscal Year 2021 began with the largest number of Immigration Court cases in its active backlog to date: in October, 1,273,885 immigration cases were pending before the courts. Most of the pending cases—918,673 or 72... Read More