DHS Fails to File Paperwork Leading to Large Numbers of Dismissals; Study Finds 17% of Immigration Cases Tossed Because DHS Failed to File Paperwork

AP Photo/Eric Gay, File

17% of immigration cases tossed because DHS failed to file paperwork, study finds:

Immigration judges are tossing one out of every six new immigration cases because Homeland Security failed to file a basic form — the original court summons — according to a new study.

When illegal border jumpers are nabbed, Customs and Border Protection is supposed to issue the migrant a Notice to Appear, which is a summons for immigration court. CBP is then supposed to file the NTA with the immigration court itself.

But CBP failed to file the form in nearly 17% of cases so far this fiscal year, according to data compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University and released Friday.

Analysts said it was a shocking bungle.

“DHS needs to get its priorities in order to ensure cases are properly filed, that aliens are properly served and that the ICE attorney is ready to go forward in court on the hearing date,” said Andrew “Art” Arthur, a former immigration judge and now a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies. “This is indicative of a lack of interest on the part of the Biden administration in actually enforcing immigration laws.”

The Washington Times has reached out to CBP for comment.

The new TRAC report adds to a growing pile of evidence for how badly the Biden team has mishandled the record surge of illegal immigrants at the border. --->READ MORE HERE

DHS Fails to File Paperwork Leading to Large Numbers of Dismissals:

One out of every six new cases DHS initiates in Immigration Court are now being dismissed because CBP officials are not filing the actual “Notice to Appear” (NTA) with the Court. The latest case-by-case Court records obtained and analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University through a series of Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests show a dramatic increase in these cases. See Figure 1. The number of case closures along with those dismissed because no NTA was filed are shown in Table 1.

Ten years ago this failure to file a NTA was rare. But as the onset in Table 1 shows, the frequency increased once Border Patrol agents were given the ability to use the Immigration Court’s Interactive Scheduling System (ISS). Using ISS, the agents can directly schedule the initial hearing (i.e. a master calendar hearing) at the Immigration Court. Supposedly, the actual NTA is created at the same time, and a copy given to the asylum seeker or other noncitizen with the scheduled hearing location and time they are to show up in Court noted on the NTA.

Thus, the process only requires that CBP actually follow up with the ministerial task of seeing that the Court also receives a copy of the NTA. With the implementation of the Court’s ECAS system of e-filing, this should have made the process quick and straightforward. That this is failing to be done suggests there is a serious disconnect between the CBP agents entering new cases and scheduling hearings through the Court’s ISS system, and other CBP personnel responsible for submitting a copy to the Court.

This is exceedingly wasteful of the Court’s time. It is also problematic for the immigrant (and possibly their attorney) if they show up at hearings only to have the case dismissed by the Immigration Judge because the case hasn’t actually been filed with the Court. --->READ MORE HERE

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