The number of foreigners landing in Los Angeles Immigration Court has surged in recent years, while the number of judges has remained about the same, causing crushing caseloads and lengthy delays.
Expanded immigration enforcement, including the ongoing search for illegal immigrants in county jails, is causing much of the rise, according to judges, attorneys and experts.
"I don't think it's possible for a court to implode from weight, but we may see," said former L.A. Immigration Judge Gilbert T. Gembacz, who retired last month after more than a decade on the bench.
Los Angeles immigration judges heard 27,200 cases last fiscal year, up from about 17,800 in 2000. In the last fiscal year alone, the number of immigration cases rose nearly 40%.
Today, 23 judges are assigned to Immigration Court, just two more than in 2000.
Immigration courts nationwide mirror the trend. Last fiscal year, judges heard 334,600 cases, up from 254,500 in 2000. During the same period, the number of judges increased to 220 from 207.
"Because of the high volume of the immigration docket, there is a great concern that respondents appearing before us do not believe they are given adequate opportunity to present their cases," said San Francisco Immigration Judge Dana Leigh Marks, head of the National Assn. of Immigration Judges, the judges' union.
Cases are also becoming more difficult as laws change and new regulations are written, making it harder for judges to complete cases quickly.
"You are asking us to do death penalty cases in a traffic court setting with traffic court resources," Marks said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the courts are critical to the government's crackdown on illegal immigration.
"We can go out there and make arrests," she said, "but the efficiency of the legal process is going to have a tremendous impact on the outcome."
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44 cases, 1 judge
On a recent day in Los Angeles Immigration Court, one judge had 44 cases on the docket. Every seat was filled, and a crowd waited in the hall. The judge heard the cases quickly, getting updates, asking questions and setting new court dates -- sometimes six months in the future.
A few floors down, immigration attorney P. Joseph Sandoval said he arrived 15 minutes early for his appearance, but the court was already packed and seven other attorneys had checked in before him.
