The nation's overburdened immigration courts could be in line for major reinforcements — hundreds of new judges, clerks and staff lawyers — under Congress' latest proposal to overhaul the immigration system.

The additional positions are needed to shore up the U.S. Justice Department's immigration courts and border-state federal district courts that are falling far behind, said Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), one of the senators known as the "Gang of Eight" who shaped the Senate legislation.