Immigration courts are speeding up hearings for the tens of thousands of
Central American children caught on the U.S. border after criticism
that the backlogged system is letting immigrants stay in the country for
years while waiting for their cases to be heard.
There are 375,000 cases before the immigration courts, and many
immigrants wait months or years for a hearing. Instead of bumping
children to the back of that long line, the courts are now giving each
child an initial court hearing within three weeks, according to the
Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review. A
spokeswoman for the courts didn't answer questions about how many
children's hearings had been set under the new plan, or which courts had
scheduled additional hearings.
Immigration lawyers have long sought a speedier process to prevent
immigrants from having to wait years for an answer on their asylum or
green card applications. Now, the concern is the opposite: that the
courts are moving so quickly that the children might not have enough
time to make a case that they should be allowed to remain in the country
legally.
The biggest worry is that children might not receive proper notice of hearings,http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/immigration-courts-speed-childrens-cases-24784541
