Migrants Encounter ‘Chaos and Confusion’ in New York Immigration Courts

Migrants Encounter ‘Chaos and Confusion’ in New York Immigration Courts

Immigration courts in New York State already had a backlog of 180,000 cases, before 21,000 new migrants arrived this summer.

It was just past dawn, but people were already crowding around an Immigration and Customs Enforcement employee stationed outside a Manhattan courthouse one morning this fall.

He told each person the same thing: The ICE field office had reached capacity. Five hundred people were already inside. “Take the email and go home,” he said.

Some took pictures of a poster displaying email addresses for the federal immigration agency. Others wandered to an immigration court entrance around the corner, only to be turned back. Dozens stood around clutching orders telling them they had to report in person that day to a building they couldn’t enter.

“That’s playing games,” said Severino Macias, of Brooklyn, who accompanied his daughter-in-law, who had arrived in New York City from Ecuador in September. “What’s going on?”

The scene at the courthouse, where migrants were trying to keep appointments for ICE check-ins, captured the chaos that lawyers and organizations that help immigrants have been warning about since thousands of new migrants began arriving in the city this year: An already strained immigration system is becoming even more swamped, a problem that is likely to get worse as immigrants face deadlines to apply for asylum next year.

While an abrupt shift in the federal administration’s immigration policy has slowed down the daily arrival of migrants, more than 21,000 people are already in New York City and many hope to gain legal status through the asylum process. They will join a line that already includes about 180,000 pending cases in New York State immigration courts, which are handled by 88 judges.

For months, immigration agencies have said the system is breaking down. Court documents have been sent to addresses that seem chosen arbitrarily. Some new arrivals have received initial court hearing dates that are long past their deadline to apply for asylum. Lawyers say courts have lost paperwork and turned away people with scheduled hearings at the door. And many migrants will have to navigate the system alone, because of a shortage of immigration attorneys and advocates.

Jodi Ziesemer, director of New York Legal Assistance Group’s immigrant protection unit, said the “chaos and confusion” in the immigration system is worse than normal. “That comes at the expense of people’s rights and people’s ability to seek legal protection in the United States,” she said.

Migrants seeking asylum have to apply within one year. When migrants who arrived this summer come up against that deadline, the immigration court system is going to become even more overtaxed, said Maryann Tharappel, who directs immigrant and refugee services at the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. It can already take up to five years for asylum cases to be heard.