The immigration courts belong to the Department of Justice, not to DHS, and they are the venue in which most contested cases are finally decided: asylum after referral from USCIS, cancellation of removal, and every defense against deportation. In early 2026 they are under a strain that has no precedent in their history.
The numbers
The active backlog passed three million cases in 2025 and has stayed there; more than two million of those files contain an asylum application waiting for a hearing. Completions have risen sharply, and the overwhelming majority of them end in a removal order or voluntary departure. The five counties with the largest pending caseloads are Miami-Dade, Cook, Queens, Los Angeles and Kings.
The bench has shrunk while the docket grew. On February 4, 2025 the courts had 726 permanent adjudicators, 683 judges and 43 assistant chief judges, across 75 courts. By February 23, 2026 the count was 553, even after new hiring. Nearly a hundred judges were removed in 2025, and the removals have continued into this year. Twelve courts lost more than half their judges; two had none.
How to check a hearing
Three tools, all free.
- ACIS, the automated case information system, at acis.eoir.justice.gov. Enter the A-number. It shows the next hearing date, time and location for the most recent case only.
- The hotline: 1-800-898-7180. Same information, by phone, in English and Spanish.
- Respondent Access, at respondentaccess.eoir.justice.gov, which lets an unrepresented respondent file forms directly with the court, including the EOIR-33 change of address.
Check before every hearing, including the day before. Dates move, and a notice sent to an old address is still notice.
Missing a hearing
Under INA 240(b)(5), a judge may order removal in absentia if DHS shows by clear, unequivocal and convincing evidence that written notice was given and the respondent is removable. There is no second chance built in; the order is final when it is signed.
It can be reopened. A motion to reopen based on exceptional circumstances, which the statute limits to battery or extreme cruelty, or serious illness or death of the respondent or an immediate family member, must be filed within 180 days of the order. A motion based on lack of proper notice, or on being in federal or state custody through no fault of your own, may be filed at any time. Only one such motion is allowed, and filing it automatically stays removal. Ordinary motions to reopen a final order carry a 90-day limit.
The distinction between 180 days and no deadline turns on the ground, and the ground turns on facts that must be proven. A person with an in absentia order should see a lawyer the week they learn of it.
The courthouse
On May 20, 2025 ICE adopted a tactic that changed the character of the building. Government attorneys move to dismiss a respondent's case; once the judge grants it, ICE officers waiting outside the courtroom arrest the person for expedited removal, which offers far fewer protections than the proceeding just dismissed. Records obtained through litigation show oral motions to dismiss rose more than sixfold the day the practice began, and more than 6,600 such motions were filed between May and July 2025.
Two lawsuits challenge it: Immigrant ARC v. DOJ in the District of Columbia, filed on behalf of twelve people arrested this way, and a FOIA suit by LatinoJustice in the Southern District of New York seeking the guidance behind it. Neither has produced a ruling on the practice itself.
Until one does, anyone with a hearing should assume ICE may be present and plan accordingly: a lawyer in the room, a family member outside with copies of everything, and a clear understanding that a motion to dismiss is not good news.
What to do
- Check ACIS or the hotline before every hearing.
- File the EOIR-33 the day you move. A missed notice is your problem, not the court's.
- If you cannot attend, tell the court in writing beforehand, with the reason and the evidence.
- If you receive an in absentia order, count the days from the order date and see counsel immediately.
- Attend. Whatever the risks of the courthouse, the risk of not appearing is a removal order that follows you for the rest of your life.
The courts were built for a docket a tenth of this size. They are being asked to clear it faster with fewer judges, and the people in front of them bear the difference.