Washington�The good news, says the Department of Justice, is that tough action is clearing away a huge backlog of immigration appeals. The bad news, say the federal courts, is that the backlog has shifted to them.
The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts�the management arm of the federal judiciary�reported last month that circuit court appeals from decisions of the Bureau of Immigration Appeals (BIA) surged by nearly 400% over a 12-month period ending in March. Court officials said they don’t expect the numbers to return to normal any time soon.
