More Than 5,000 Immigration Court Dates Canceled in Texas Due to Government Shutdown

The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history has resulted in more than 5,000 canceled immigration court dates in Texas.For immigrants who have been waiting months or years to get into a judge’s courtroom to plead their cases it means more waiting -- or that their cases could collapse, costing them a chance at a permanent stay in the U.S.An analysis from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse of immigration court data found that from Dec. 24, 2018, to Jan. 11, almost 43,000 court hearings were canceled around the country. Texas had the third most canceled hearings with 5,141 as of January 11, based on the latest available numbers.The newly delayed cases will only add more work for the already backlogged immigration courts, which are facing more than 800,000 pending cases, according to a different TRAC analysis. Almost 120,000 of those cases are in Texas.  Continue reading...