CHC Calls on AG Sessions to Scrap Plan to Impose Quotas on Immigration Judges

Washington, D.C. - Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), led by U.S. Representatives Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Luis Gutiérrez (IL-4) and CHC Chair Michelle Lujan Grisham (NM-1) sent a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions urging him to scrap the Department of Justice's plan to impose quotas and case completion deadlines on federal immigration judges' performance evaluations.

"We strongly urge the Department to reconsider this shortsighted plan that will undermine due process and adversely impact our nation's immigration court system," the Members wrote to Attorney General Sessions. "This proposal will likely worsen, not improve, the immigration court backlog of 685,000 current pending cases by resulting in protracted litigation through the appeals process," the Members continued. "Judges should be given the independence to rule on the merits of a case instead of being pressured to rule quickly. Creating an environment where the courts care more about resolving cases speedily, rather than with accuracy and precedence, will weaken due process and result in more deportations, which could carry life-or-death consequences."

On March 30, the Department of Justice issued a memo to immigration judges, announcing that it would implement production quotas and case completion deadlines in performance evaluations for immigration judges. Among the proposed changes, immigration judges would be required to complete 700 cases a year in order to obtain a "satisfactory" rating. The proposal was met with swift and widespread opposition from immigration judges across the nation.

"It's our belief that such measures will undermine the public's faith in the fairness of our courts, leading to a huge increase in appeals and legal challenges that in turn will create crippling delays in our already overburdened immigration courts and flood the federal courts of appeal as well," said the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) in a statement. "We have strenuously opposed this plan each step of the way since the it was first raised last fall."

In addition to Reps. Gomez, Gutierrez and Lujan Grisham the following members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus signed the letter: CHC First Vice Chair Joaquin Castro; CHC Second Vice Chair Ruben Gallego; CHC Whip Pete Aguilar; CHC Freshman Representative Adriano Espaillat; Rep. Darren Soto; Rep. Ruben Kihuen; Rep. Jim Costa; Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard; Rep. Raul Grijalva; Rep. Jose E. Serrano; Rep. Grace F. Napolitano; Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán; Rep. Norma J. Torres; Rep. Juan Vargas; Rep. Linda T. Sanchez; Rep. Albio Sires; and Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez.

The official letter can be found here.

April 26, 2018

The Honorable Jeff Sessions

Attorney General

Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20530

The Honorable James McHenry

Director

Executive Office for Immigration Review

United States Department of Justice

5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 1902

Falls Church, Virginia 22041

As Members of Congress we write to express our collective concerns regarding the U.S. Department of Justice's ("Department") announcement to implement production quotas and case completion deadlines in performance evaluations for Immigration Judges. The proposed changes would require immigration judges to complete 700 cases a year in order to obtain a "satisfactory" rating.

We strongly urge the Department to reconsider this shortsighted plan that will undermine due process and adversely impact our nation's immigration court system. In fact, this proposal will likely worsen, not improve, the immigration court backlog of 685,000 current pending cases by resulting in protracted litigation through the appeals process, which would directly undercut the Department's stated efforts to reduce the backlog, nearly half of which are asylum cases. Immigration judges have already voiced their concern about this proposal. According to the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ), "it's our belief that such measures will undermine the public's faith in the fairness of our courts, leading to a huge increase in appeals and legal challenges that in turn will create crippling delays in our already overburdened immigration courts and flood the federal courts of appeal as well."^[1]

Immigration judges go through an extensive hiring process that can take up to one to two years. These judges have extensive expertise and experience so that they work in an efficient and fair manner. To ensure the integrity of the judicial system, judges should be given the independence to rule on the merits of a case instead of being pressured to rule quickly. Moreover, given the sensitive nature of many of these cases, creating an environment where the courts care more about resolving cases speedily rather than accuracy and precedence will weaken due process and result in more deportations, which could carry life-or-death consequences.

While we understand that there is a need to address our immigration backlog, imposing performance quotas is not the solution. Alternatively, we need to ensure that our immigration courts are adequately funded and provided with the appropriate resources to operate effectively.

On average, according to an NAIJ report, "an immigration judge completes more than 1,500 cases per year, with a ratio of one law clerk for every four judges."^[2] That is three times the caseload from district court judges. It is the persistent lack of resources, not the efficiency of a judge's rulings that has pushed the system to a breaking point.

This recent directive will adversely affect productivity, efficiency and morale in our immigration court system. We therefore call on the Department to reverse this decision and await your response on this matter.

Sincerely,

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