Statement for the Senate Judiciary Committee on Border Security and Immigration on “Strengthening and Reforming America’s Immigration Court System”

The American Immigration Council submitted a written statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Border Security and Immigration for an April 18, 2018 hearing on “Strengthening and Reforming America’s Immigration Court System.” The statement shares our analysis and research regarding the nation’s immigration courts, due process, and the importance of a truly fair day in court. Additionally, the statement draws attention to the changes in the nation’s immigration courts that the Trump administration has made over the past 15 months that compromise an immigration judge’s ability to make decisions independent of pressures to expedite hearings, remove due process protections afforded to noncitizens in removal proceedings, and create additional delays and inefficiencies in the immigration court system.