Immigration Court Crisis: Over 500,000 No-Shows Spark Alarm

More than 507,000 illegal immigrants failed to attend their court hearings between Fiscal Year 2022 and December 2024, highlighting significant flaws in the current immigration policies and leading to a call for reforms.

Over 507,000 illegal immigrants did not appear for their court hearings from Fiscal Year 2022 to December 2024, as reported in a new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS). This alarming figure has exacerbated the ongoing crisis in the nation's immigration court system, which is already dealing with a backlog of over 3 million cases.

The significant number of no-shows, which represents a 45% increase compared to the previous seven years combined—spanning both the latter years of the Obama administration and the Trump administration—has been attributed to the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policies. Under these policies, many migrants were released into the U.S. with only a Notice to Appear for a court date. According to the CIS report, this has resulted in a flood of in absentia removal orders from immigration judges, as hundreds of thousands failed to follow through.

Andrew R. Arthur of CIS pointed out that the immigration system is not merely under pressure—it is being systematically dismantled. Critics of the current administration claim that without mandatory detention or stringent monitoring, immigration courts have devolved into a mere formality, delaying justice and leaving many orders unenforced.

In response to this crisis, the Trump administration has promised to restore order by reintroducing a detention-first policy, increasing the number of immigration judges, and equipping them with the necessary authority and resources to enforce their rulings and tackle the backlog. Experts warn that failing to implement such reforms will leave the courts perpetually overwhelmed and ineffective, serving as yet another aftermath of the current administration's immigration policies.