More than 63,000 immigrants were victims of errors in the way deportations were processed in 2022.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced to the U.S. public that efforts will be made to correct a serious error in its administrative system that led to the deportation of 63,000 non-citizens.
In theory, the origin of all this goes back to the fact that these 2022 deportation cases were referred to the Immigration Court (EOIR), and from there denied because the courts did not receive a copy of the Notices to Appear (NTA), which are the government’s duty.
The truth about this serious error came to light thanks to a report issued by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). This analysis from Syracuse University in New York details how it was DHS agents, specifically border patrol agents, who failed to properly file NTAs. That is why court judges have no way of hearing immigration cases.
The goal of the DHS is to correct this serious error, so that the thousands of affected immigrants can go back to normal and continue with their processes. But is it really possible to repair such damage? What did DHS tell the press? At Jaskot Law’s firm, we bring you all the details.
What did DHS announce?
In the face of the controversy, the Department of Safety announced that in the event that an NTA is unavailable, correcting the deficiency or otherwise addressing it is not an uncommon practice. On the contrary, these issues are usually resolved within the immigration court by refiling the Notice or issuing a new one. In this way, immigration cases can resume their prosecution without major inconveniences.
Often times, when there are problems with the issuance of the NTA, it is common for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO) to correct the errors, issue a new document, or re-schedule an appointment with the non-citizen in court. In other words, what DHS means by this is that problems have always been fixed in one way or another, and will continue to be fixed.
The Department of Homeland Security, in tandem with ICE and border patrol officials, is making efforts to improve this so that the numbers of deportations in 2022 that were poorly conducted do not continue to grow.
Appearing before an immigration court is a right and an obligation for all migrants with a deportation case, and enforcing it is critical to maintain the legality of the way cases are processed.
What now? What will the 63,000 immigrants do?
Unfortunately, there is still no word from DHS on what to do for immigrants whose cases were dismissed following this error, leaving 63,000 people in immigration limbo. While it is true that, as the department’s authorities said, these problems with NTAs are usually solvable, those who have already been deported due to such irregularity still do not see a way out.
Deportation numbers have been steady throughout 2022, reaching an annual total of 63,586 at the end of September. The situation is beyond everyone, lawyers, court officials, and especially the immigrant victims of the administrative system, who cannot do anything about it to save their immigration cases.
We will soon see more news about these bureaucratic problems in the 2022 deportations. In the meantime, at Jaskot Law, we will keep you up to date on immigration law and developments. You can contact us at +1 (410) 235-6868 or via our website.
