How and why to eliminate the immigration court backlog of 3.9 million pending cases

What is it about?

The article speaks to the urgency of addressing the immigration court backlog, as part of a broader reform of the US immigration system, in part by hiring immigration judges and legal and support staff. H.R. 1, the budget legislation passed on July 4, 2025, calls for $170 billion in additional immigration enforcement funding, but only $3.3 billion -- to be available over a five-year period -- to hire immigration judges and support staff. Moreover, HR. 1 caps the number of immigration judges at 800, effective November 1, 2028, a wholly insufficient number given the size of the need. As of the second quarter of 2025, there were around 700 immigration judges. An increase of 100 judges over a five-year period will do very little to reduce the 3.9 million backlog of pending cases. The article show why this is the case and how to calculate the number of immigration judges needed to eliminate the backlog over time, combined with other reforms.

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Why is it important?

It's important because the US immigration system is an integrated system, and border control, legal immigration, humanitarian programs, and other aspects of the US immigration system cannot be successful without a greater commitment to the adjudication system. In addition, the immigration court system cannot be reformed and backlogs cannot be meaningfully reduced without many hundred additional judge teams, as well as a commitment to fixing the longstanding anomalies and problems in the immigration system that have cause the immense backlog of pending cases.

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