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Immigration judges have dropped deportation cases against migrants in the United States. Around 200,000 cases were dismissed because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) didn’t file the necessary paperwork on time, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University (TRAC) reports said.

The report highlights a lack of transparency regarding why these DHS failures occurred.

The paperwork issues have hit immigrants, including asylum seekers, who face challenges in moving forward with their cases.

Since the start of President Joe Biden’s administration, the Immigration Judges have approximately thrown out 200,000 deportation cases because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to file the required documents on time.

This situation leaves immigrants, often asylum seekers, in a state of uncertainty, unable to progress with their legal proceedings, the report said.

Immigration has emerged as a central issue in the 2024 presidential campaign, which is widely expected to be a Biden-Trump rematch, and each man is seeking to use the border problems to his own political advantage.

IMPORTANCE OF NOTICES TO APPEAR (NTA)

Notices to Appear (NTAs), which are essential documents in immigration cases, weren’t filed for these migrants before their court dates.

NTAs are issued when migrants are caught crossing the border illegally.

They allow migrants to explain why they should not be deported in front of an immigration judge.

Without the NTA filed by DHS, the Immigration Court lacks jurisdiction to proceed with the case.

This problem has been happening more often lately because DHS agents can schedule court hearings before finishing the paperwork.

Under the Biden administration, the number of cases dismissed due to the failure to file NTAs surged from 6,482 in 2020 to 33,802 in 2021, the report said.

In 2022, the tally of instances with no NTAs reached 79,592 before declining to 68,869 in 2023.

As of now, approximately 10,598 deportation cases have been dismissed this year due to the absence of NTAs.

About 1-in-4 dismissals were rectified by the DHS. TRAC’s analysis found that on 1,913 occasions, the issuance of a new NTA was dismissed yet again because the second filing was also untimely.

VARIATION IN DISMISSAL RATES ACROSS LOCATIONS

The problem of missing NTAs varied across different immigration court locations, with some areas experiencing higher rates of dismissal.

For instance, the Houston, Texas, Immigration Court and the Dedicated Docket in Miami, Florida, have seen dismissal rates of 50% since FY 2021.

Similarly, the El Paso and Los Angeles Dedicated Dockets reported dismissal rates of 30% and 26%, respectively.

Rectifying these dismissals requires DHS to issue new NTAs.

However, data reveals that only about a quarter of affected individuals have had their cases restarted within a year, the report stated.

This means that the majority are left in legal limbo, unable to pursue asylum or relief.

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) responsibility to file Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Immigration Court is crucial for the immigration enforcement process.

Almost all Immigration Court cases involve removal cases, which necessitate DHS filing an NTA to proceed.

However, there’s been an increase in instances where NTAs are scheduled for hearings before being filed due to DHS personnel accessing the Immigration Court’s scheduling system.

This has led to wasted court time and confusion for immigrants, particularly asylum seekers, who may attend hearings only to find their cases non-existent.

Without a formal asylum petition, they can’t obtain work permits, prolonging their struggle for essentials like food and shelter.