Jordan Vonderhaar, Texas Observer, Nov. 21, 2023 "Forty miles south of Ciudad Juárez, protected from the glaring desert sun by a blanket tied to a ladder, a mother nurses her nine-month-old...
Miriam Jordan, New York Times, Nov. 28, 2023 "The story of the Miskito who have left their ancestral home to come 2,500 miles to the U.S.-Mexico border is in many ways familiar. Like others coming...
ABA "Four national immigration experts will discuss the changing landscape of border law and policies at a free Dec. 6 webinar sponsored by the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration...
Theresa Vargas, Washington Post, Nov. 25, 2023 "The Northern Virginia doctor was born in D.C. and given a U.S. birth certificate. At 61, he learned his citizenship was granted by mistake."
Cyrus Mehta and Jessica Paszko, Nov. 24, 2023 " This is the story of our client Nadia Habib who was in immigration proceedings from 18 months till 31 years until an Immigration Judge granted her...
TRAC, Aug. 17, 2021
On May 28, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice announced that the two agencies would be implementing a new "Dedicated Docket" process for families arriving at the border who are placed in immigration proceedings[1]. The announced goal of the Dedicated Docket[2] was to speed the hearing and resolution of family cases. A decision target of 300 days after their initial master calendar hearing was set. According to the announcement: "Families may qualify if they are apprehended between ports of entry on or after Friday, May 28, 2021, placed in removal proceedings, and enrolled in Alternatives to Detention (ATD)."
According to the latest case-by-case court data, the Immigration Court has recorded placing 4,866 people comprising approximately 1,700 families onto their dedicated docket[3]. This compares with 108,102 individuals in family units that the Border Patrol reported apprehending between ports of entry along the southwest border during June and July this year[4]. Thus, only a relatively small number of families encountered by the Border Patrol—less than 5 percent—thus far are recorded as assigned to this program. Many questions exist about the criteria used by the Border Patrol to select which families are assigned to the Dedicated Docket. This report describes the pace that individuals have been assigned to this program, describes the characteristics of the initial group of families who have been assigned to this program, and outlines where their cases have been directed.