According to a 2008 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, immigration judges have a higher rate of burnout “than prison wardens and physicians in busy hospitals.” Yet things seem to be getting even worse for an already backlogged Immigration Court system. According the the Huffington Post, roughly half of the 220 judges in the Immigration Courts nationwide will be eligible for retirement next year.
President of the National Association of Immigration Judges and San Francisco Immigration Judge Dana L. Marks stated, “We are the forgotten stepchild. When Congress wants to fund immigration enforcement, they forget about the court.”
Judges are overloaded with enormous caseloads, causing delays of many years for many immigrants in removal proceedings.