New Immigration Judges Sworn in to Tackle Rising Case Backlogs
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has inducted nearly 80 new immigration judges across the country, marking the largest group of appointments in its history. This move comes as the immigration courts face mounting backlogs, with the Charlotte immigration court, which processes cases from North and South Carolina, receiving three of these new judges.
Interestingly, the incoming judges assigned to Charlotte do not have prior experience in immigration law, as detailed in the DOJ’s recently released biographies. Two of the judges have previously served as North Carolina state district judges, while the third has experience as an assistant attorney general and state prosecutor.
With these appointments, Charlotte’s immigration court now has a total of seven permanent judges, supplemented by two temporary judges. The court is tasked with managing a significant backlog of approximately 129,000 pending cases.
Addressing the backlog is a top priority for the DOJ, which continues to implement strategies aimed at expediting the processing of immigration cases.
