In fiscal year 2007, the nation's 214 immigration judges oversaw nearly 350,000 cases. Dana Leigh Marks, who heads the National Association of Immigration Judges, says she spends 36 hours a week on the bench trying to keep up, and Marks doesn't even have basic resources that other judges take for granted.
"I'm lucky," Marks says. "Here in San Francisco, I have one-quarter of a law clerk. Throughout the country, the ratio of law clerks to immigration judges makes it so that most judges have one-sixth of a law clerk."
Marks says she can definitely feel like Lucy Ricardo on the chocolate-factory line. But with many defendants seeking refuge from persecution, the frenetic work pace is hardly a comedy.
"For some people, these are the equivalent of death penalty cases, and we are conducting these cases in a traffic court setting."
From 2005 to 2015 this blog presented news items and resources relating to trial advocacy and the legal system, with a focus on Washington State. It was developed to support the Trial Advocacy Program at the University of Washington School of Law, but broadened to include appellate practice, the courts, access to justice, and related topics. It is no longer active.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Immigration Crackdown Overwhelms Judges, NPR All Things Considered, Feb. 9, 2009:
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