Activists are seeking to shut down the nation’s immigration courts because the coronavirus is allegedly threatening migrants, judges, and lawyers.
The action comes as administration officials are still trying to complete deportations and other immigration cases, following years of uncontrolled migration. For example, the courts are allowing lawyers to file statements via email, and have canceled hearings for non-detained migrants until May.
The lawsuit was filed by the far-left National Lawyers Guild, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the American Immigration Council (AIC), according to a press release. The lawsuit demands hearings be halted and migrants be released or provided protective gear, adding:
Federal courts and the Bureau of Prisons via the attorney general have taken measures to minimize the health risk. Yet, EOIR [the Executive Office for Immigration Review], a component of DOJ which oversees immigration courts, has not taken the same protective measures and most immigration courts remain open for business, putting the health and safety of attorneys and clients at risk.
The lawsuit is backed up by a media campaign.
For example, an op-ed in the New York Daily News by a prominent immigration lawyer argued immigration lawyers could not defend their clients properly because the detention centers are taking extensive measures to prevent infections:
The Justice Department needs to recognize that public health is our country’s number one priority. It should shut down all detained immigration courts now to protect everyone appearing there, as well as the American public. It is literally a matter of life or death.
The campaign is making progress. An ACLU lawsuit persuaded a federal judge in Pennsylvania judge to release roughly 15 migrants from an ICE detention center because of the coronavirus threat. The judge declared March 31:
In times such as these, we must acknowledge that the status quo of a mere few weeks ago no longer applies.Our world has been altered withlightning speed, and the results are both unprecedented and ghastly. We now face a global pandemic in which the actions of each individual can have a drastic impact on an entire community The choices we now make must reflect this new reality.
[ICE] Facilities are plainly not equipped to protect Petitioners from a potentially fatal exposure to COVID-19. While this deficiency is neither intentional nor malicious, should we fail to afford relief to Petitioners we will be a party to an unconscionable and possibly barbaric result. Our Constitution and laws apply equally to the most vulnerable among us, particularly when matters of public health are at issue. This is true even for those who have lost a measure of their freedom. If we are to remain the civilized society we hold ourselves out to be, it would be heartless and inhumane not to recognize Petitioners’ plight.
President Trump’s deputies have added extra judges to the immigration courts, and have also replaced many judges appointed by former Presidnet Barack Obama. But the backlog has grown as more migrants surged across the border, and as ICE agents try to deport migrants to their home countries.
A report from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University said:
Just under 100,000 cases were added to the Immigration Court’s backlog since the beginning of FY 2020. A total of 1,122,824 cases are now pending on the court’s active docket as of the end of February 2020. This is up from 542,411 cases when President Trump assumed office. When 320,173 inactive pending[1] cases are included, the court’s current backlog now tops 1.4 million cases.
The inflow of illegal immigrants into the United States provides cheap labor to employers, so it cuts wages for blue collar Americans. The inflow also drives up housing costs and crowds K-12 school rooms.
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