No. of Recommendations: 3
Probably a fair amount. They don't report figures, of course, for the specific folks they've been detaining during the last twelve months. But undocumented folks typically have fairly high rates of court date compliance (upper 70s to 90%, depending on the estimate, one link below).Hmmm. And then there's this:
federalnewsnetwork.com - Immigration courts miss a crucial metric for tracking immigrantsTom Temin: And this seems like a super important report because whatever we decide is immigration policy. One thing in statute now is that noncitizens have to appear for immigration court hearings. And it would seem basic that they do so. What did you find here?
Rebecca Gambler: Yes. Thank you, Tom. So respondents are expected to appear for their immigration court hearings. And when I say respondents, I mean noncitizens who are charged as being removable from the country for violating immigration law. If respondents don’t appear for their immigration court hearings, they could be subject to legal consequences. For example, they may be subject to what’s known as an in absentia removal order. In that case, a judge could order an individual respondent removed from the country in their absence.
Tom Temin: And what did you find specifically about the system and whether justice is able to even know all of this?
Rebecca Gambler: Thank you, Tom. The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which is in the Department of Justice, does not track or report data on whether respondents appear at their hearings or whether their appearance was waived. And that’s because EOIR’s case management system doesn’t have a function to systematically record that type of information without that function. We heard from immigration court officials that the agency’s case management system has other fields that could be used to indicate whether respondents appeared at hearings. But we found that those other fields aren’t a reliable source for tracking whether or not respondents appeared at the hearing or had their appearance waived by an immigration judge.So they're...not really tracking it.
The GAO's report is here
U.S. Government Accountability Office: Immigration Courts: Actions Needed to Track and Report Noncitizens' Hearing AppearancesFast Facts
The Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review holds immigration hearings to determine whether noncitizens will be removed from the country. As of July 2024, there's a backlog of about 3.5 million pending cases.
Noncitizens are expected to attend their hearings. Failing to show up could result in removal from the U.S.—unless a judge waives their appearance. But the Office's case management system doesn't collect data systematically that shows whether someone appeared at hearings or whether a judge issued a waiver.
We recommended the Office add this function to its system so it has reliable data on hearing appearances.What the GAO found:
The Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is responsible for conducting immigration court proceedings. If a respondent—a noncitizen who has been charged with violating immigration law—fails to appear for any of their hearings, an immigration judge may order them removed from the country in their absence (“in absentia”). A judge may also waive their appearance and otherwise resolve the case, depending on the facts and circumstances. However, EOIR does not track or report data on whether respondents appear at their hearings or whether their appearance was waived, because EOIR's case management system does not have a function to systematically record such information. EOIR officials stated that the system has other information that could indicate whether respondents appeared at hearings, such as data on in absentia removal orders and certain hearing adjournment codes. However, these data do not reliably track respondents' appearance at hearings. Developing and implementing a function in its system and publicly reporting on that data would better position EOIR to provide reliable information to Congress and others about the extent respondents appear for their hearings.
According to EOIR data, from fiscal years 2016 through 2023, the total in absentia rate was 34 percent for removal cases of non-detained respondents. EOIR calculates the in absentia rate by dividing the number of in absentia removal orders by the number of immigration judges' initial decisions resolving cases. The rate varied by certain characteristics, such as court location, legal representation status, and demographic characteristics.So we...really don't know.
At any rate, illegals who have court dates are only a contingent of the full population of people in the country illegally.
