Number of New Deportation Cases Far Outpaces Completed Cases in FY 2021: TRAC

TRAC, Oct. 14, 2021 - "According to TRAC’s updated Quick Facts tools, the number of new deportation cases filed with the Courts in FY 2021–over 315,000–is more than double the number of completed cases over the same period which, according to Immigration Court records, currently sits at less that 145,000. When incoming cases exceed the capacity of the Courts to adjudicate those cases, the Immigration Court backlog continues to grow. At the end of September 2021, the end of FY 2021, the total number of pending cases reached nearly 1.5 million total cases, larger than the population of San Diego, the eighth largest city in the United States.  [Emphasis added.]

The Transactional Research Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) a research organization at Syracuse University created 'Quick Facts' tools to provide a user-friendly way to see the most updated data available on immigrant detention and the Immigration Courts. The tools include easy-to-understand data in context and provide quotable descriptions.

Highlights from data updated today on immigrants facing deportation in court include the following:

• Immigration Courts recorded receiving 315,491 new cases so far in FY 2021 as of September 2021. This compares with 144,654 cases that the court completed during this period.
• According to court records, only 2.0% of FY 2021 new cases sought deportation orders based on any alleged criminal activity of the immigrant, apart from possible illegal entry.
• At the end of September 2021, 1,457,615 active cases were pending before the Immigration Court.
• Los Angeles County, CA, has the most residents with pending Immigration Court deportation cases (as of the end of September 2021).
• So far this fiscal year (through September 2021), immigration judges have issued removal and voluntary departure orders in 29.7% of completed cases, totaling 43,031 deportation orders.
• So far in FY 2021 (through September 2021), immigrants from Mexico top list of nationalities with largest number ordered deported.
• Only 20.6% of immigrants, including unaccompanied children, had an attorney to assist them in Immigration Court cases when a removal order was issued.
• Immigration judges have held 22,712 bond hearings so far in FY 2021 (through September 2021). Of these 6,997 were granted bond.

For more information, see TRAC's Quick Facts tools here or click here to learn more about TRAC's entire suite of immigration tools.

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