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The Migration Policy Institute


July 30, 2019

Dear John xxxxxx,

The Trump administration last fall ordered the operation of accelerated dockets in ten immigration courts across the United States to deal with the rising numbers of cases of migrant families arriving illegally at the U.S.-Mexico border. Nearly 17,000 cases on these "rocket" dockets had been completed as of last month.

Eighty percent of these cases had in absentia orders, meaning the families were not in court when a judge ordered them removed. While at first glance this exceedingly high rate might suggest the migrants had gone underground and refused to appear, the reality is the system often hinders or even makes it impossible for them to appear, particularly on an accelerated docket.

A new commentary by my colleague Sarah Pierce explains the administrative weaknesses in the immigration court system and other factors that are driving up these in absentia rates -- and adding up to a system that flies in the face of U.S. principles of due process and equal justice.

While having timely, fair case processing and ultimately removal of those who have truly had their day in court and been found to be removable is essential, speeding up proceedings under current conditions only heightens the breakdowns that are a recurring feature of the system on its best day.

The commentary sketches a number of ways to properly increase the speed of immigration hearings without sacrificing due-process rights. I commend it to your attention: www.migrationpolicy.org/news/due-process-questions-rocket-dockets-family-migrants.

Best regards,

Doris Meissner
Senior Fellow and Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program,
Migration Policy Institute

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The Migration Policy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in Washington, D.C. dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide. MPI provides analysis, development, and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national, and international levels. For more on MPI, please visit www.migrationpolicy.org.
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