Legal immigration cases are backlogged for years. The country now sees almost a million and a half waiting cases.
Even before the southern border saw record numbers of migrants crossing, Immigration Attorney Gordon Quan says Houston has an especially large accumulation. He says his clients have suffered a long time. "I have clients waiting from -- the earliest 1 year --- to probably 10 years. It varies depending upon the type of case and how many times it has been rescheduled and assigned to different judges."
Quan says new immigration courts are being established. "Houston's backlog has grown to over 60,000 cases. While there are new judges, new courts and new trial attorneys, all of this take time to implement and to get procedures in place."
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Quan points out it's not only because of the migration across the southern border. "We're affected more by the coronavirus has really slowed down the Court. The Court has only been open since July 6th for business again." He says that Texas alone has 170 thousand immigration cases pending. "Texas is a very attractive place for immigrants. There is a network of various organizations that will help individuals, we have a very diverse population of people from all over the world, the cost of living is low, and there's a demand for people to work all over Texas.
Quan says his current clients have been waiting from one to 10 years for their cases to be heard.
photo: GettyImages
Years of Backlogged Citizenship Immigration Cases