The director of the office responsible for judicial review of immigration cases says there is now a backlog of more than a million court cases and that there are almost 700,000 delayed deportation actions.

Washington Examiner:

James McHenry, the director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which handles immigration cases, said Tuesday that the backlog of active cases is over 692,000 and that the courts have an additional 330,000 cases that have been put into "administrative closure," but that are still before the courts.

"It would be in addition to those (690,000) cases," he said at a newsmaker event hosted by the Center for Immigration Studies.  "There is the possibility of additional cases," he added.

Even with hiring new judges, the backlog will take years to clear, he added.

The office has 334 judges around the nation and Congress has authorized a total corps of 484.  President Trump has sought a total of 700.

McHenry, named the director by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has moved to hire judges and streamline the process of handling with the backlog.  It's an uphill fight, he revealed, since it can take up to a year to hire a judge and because the court system still uses paper.  He has speeded the hiring some and has announced a pilot program to begin shifting from paper to digital files.

The backlog of cases jumped under former President Obama as did the backlog of deportations, which is 684,583.

Unbelievable that in the year 2018, they are still using some 19th-century procedures.

No matter.  The big problem is that immigration lawyers slow down the process to a crawl.  Even if the illegal shows up for his hearing, the lawyer will get continuances and find other ways to delay the proceedings. 

The system doesn't need more judges, who will only clog the system even more.  The way we deal with illegal immigration must be radically changed, from the border to the courtroom.  Even the modest wall proposal that Trump wants considered won't halt the flow of illegals into the U.S. or even slow it down much.  Illegals are abusing the refugee and asylum laws to get their foot in the door, only to be released while awaiting a court hearing.  Less than 70% of illegals show up for their hearings, which means millions simply melt into and disappear in the U.S. population.

The current system makes a mockery of our sovereignty.  Every other nation on earth has control over who gets to come in and who must stay out.  It's time to bring sanity to our immigration laws.