Overburdened courts are delaying deportations and costing taxpayers $19 billion a year

Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported arrests of illegal immigrants increased in June while the number of deportations remained low due to court delays.

The reason for low deportation numbers is owed to a massive backlog in federal immigration courts, a shortage of immigration judges, and lengthy due processes.

The Think Tank panel discussed what the cost is to American taxpayers and why low deportation numbers might not be such a bad thing.

“Just a reminder that for every arrest, that’s an individual that the US is paying for specifically,” said Nick Pitts of the Denison Forum.  “And right now, the Migration Policy Institute estimates that we spend about $19 billion a year on immigration services.”

To help courts ease this process, Attorney General Jeff Sessions will add more immigration judges to benches along the southwest Mexico border this year and more next year.

"In addition, we will put 50 more immigration judges on the bench this year and 75 next year. We can no longer afford to wait 18 to 24 months to get these new judges on the bench. So today, I have implemented a new, streamlined hiring plan. It requires just as much vetting as before, but reduces the timeline, reflecting the dire need to reduce the backlogs in our immigration courts," he said in a statement released by the department of Justice.

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