Justice Department Delays Some Immigration Hearings by 5 Years - Thousands of Immigrants Awaiting Hearings Get Delay Notices in New Sign of Backlogs

From The Wall Street Journal:

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department has a special time reserved for thousands of immigrants awaiting their day in court: the day after Thanksgiving in 2019.

In a fresh sign of the backlogs and delays pervasive in the U.S. immigration court system, the Justice Department has begun sending out notices to thousands of immigrants awaiting hearings that their cases will be pushed back nearly five years. The delay makes room for higher-priority cases caused last summer by a surge in unaccompanied minors and families crossing the border with Mexico.

A precise figure for how many people will be given that far-off court date wasn’t immediately clear. But the number of people affected will easily be in the thousands, and could reach tens of thousands, according to people familiar with the decision.

Immigration courts are unusual in that they are directly overseen by the Justice Department—meaning that, unlike federal or state courts, immigration judges are supervised and take instructions from administrative bosses.

Lauren Alder Reid, spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, said the rescheduling of cases was the clear outcome of a decision made in the summer by the Obama administration to give priority to cases of unaccompanied minors, families and other urgent cases.