On Thursday, the US House Appropriations Committee within the 2019 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations (CJS) Bill, approved the hiring of 100 new immigration judges. Representative, Henry Cuellar, pushed for the bill to include language for the funding to hire new judges, workspace, technology, and support staff.
In a news release, Cuellar said that the new bill will increase the efficiency of the immigration courts in the US, which are currently faced with a backlog of over half a million cases. The new funds will come into effect on 1 October this year, when the 2019 fiscal year commences.
As well as allocating funds for the hiring of immigration judges responsible for overseeing the removal proceedings for undocumented immigrants from the US, the new bill will also increase the efficiency of courts by altering the current procedure to enable judges to give oral decisions instead of written ones. The 2019 CJS Appropriations Bill will also encourage the use of preliminary hearings by judges to screen cases and avoid ‘frivolous filings’, as Cuellar puts it, intended to delay court proceedings.
Cuellar said that with 692,000 active cases currently pending, the immigration courts in the US are in desperate need of extra judges who can adjudicate the cases in an expeditious manner. He added that the fund provides a common-sense solution that everyone should agree with, regardless of their stance on immigration policy.