7 in 10 of Migrants Now Skip Their Immigration Hearings Due to an Uptick in Courtroom Arrests

For the past six months, federal immigration agents have increased arrests inside courthouses, targeting migrants who arrive for their immigration hearings.

Reports began surfacing in May from all over the country that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were waiting in courthouse hallways and detaining people as they exited their hearings. Since then, the practice has drawn sharp criticism from immigration attorneys and advocacy groups, who say it discourages people from appearing in court at all.

Kyra S. Lilien, an immigration judge who was dismissed from the Concord, California, immigration court in July, told Border Report that the Trump administration's broader enforcement push has created multiple collateral problems, citing a worsening case backlog fueled by a shortage of immigration judges, shrinking legal-services budgets, and growing fear among migrants, which she said has led to declining court attendance.

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Lilien said that in the days before her termination, she presided over master calendar hearings involving as many as 60 migrants at a time. She recalled calling 911 after a woman collapsed when her husband was detained immediately after appearing for his hearing.

"The detentions that began occurring in the courthouses did complicate this work," Lilien said. "Personally, I never had someone detained inside my own courtroom, but even without that direct experience I still felt the impact of what was happening."

Before ICE increased arrests in immigration courts, Lilien estimated that roughly 85 percent of people appeared for their hearings. Once courthouse detentions spread nationwide, she said attendance fell to about 30 percent.

"We had ICE officers in full tactical gear literally hiding in the stairwells of our court. Protesters gathered outside the building and clashed with ICE officials as they tried to block the vans carrying detainees. There was an overall climate of fear," she said.

In May, ICE instructed its prosecutors to issue oral motions to dismiss noncitizens' cases in immigration court so the agency could instead pursue deportation through expedited removal.

Data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the show that ICE's oral motions to dismiss surged by 633 percent on May 20, and immigration judges granted most of them immediately. Nearly 80 percent of oral motions decided that day were approved, clearing the way for ICE to place those whose cases were dismissed into expedited removal.

According to data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the American Immigration Council, ICE oral motions to dismiss jumped by 633 percent on May 20, and immigration judges approved most of them on the spot. Nearly 80 percent of the oral motions decided the same day were granted, clearing the way for ICE to place people whose cases were dismissed into expedited removal.

As part of the administration's redesigned immigration system, a large share of federal funding has shifted toward enforcement and detention, worsening the existing backlog.

According to data from the Migration Policy Institute cited by Border Report, the immigration court system now has 3.8 million pending cases. Under President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, passed this summer, the number of immigration judges was capped at 800. MPI reports that at least 139 judges have been fired, reassigned, or pushed into early retirement in recent months.

"In January and February, we started receiving policy memos blatantly insulting the entire immigration judge corps," Lilien told Border Report. "There were mass firings every few months followed by the (Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE) email which essentially said, 'If you don't like what we're doing, leave."

The dismissals have continued around the country. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that 12 judges at the city's immigration court have been fired this year, with the most recent group removed last week.

"It is a calculated dismantling of the San Francisco immigration court, not with a wrecking ball but piece by piece, month after month, judge after judge," said Jeremiah Johnson, one of the ousted judges, in an interview with the Chronicle. "This court was a place where people could come and have their day in court. I worry those days are ending."

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