Concerns mount for potential overload of San Antonio immigration court system after recent border influxes

With an already overloaded system, Fred Schellenberg said he has concerns about the potential impact recent border influxes might have on the country’s immigration courts.

“We’ve got over 3 million cases in US immigration court,” Schellenberg, the American Organization for Immigrants director, said. “And about 700 judges in the United States.”

After months of record-high crossings into border cities like Eagle Pass, local leaders said some courts have become overrun. Here in San Antonio, Schellenberg said just about a dozen immigration judges face thousands of cases, and that number is only expected to climb.

“I don’t think it’s going to slow down,” Schellenberg said. “It is a humanitarian issue.”

Erica Schommer, a clinical professor of law at St. Mary’s University, said there’s often a lag between people crossing and showing up in court.

“San Antonio is not the worst as far as the ratio of cases to judges, but it’s not the best either,” Schommer said. “Texas has the longest border with Mexico, and so we have a disproportionate number of people who enter here. But not all of those people are going to go through court.”

Just because San Antonio is the city some families travel through, that doesn’t necessarily mean their immigration court proceedings will play out in the city. Schommer said cases are often transferred to the city closest to where a migrant plans to stay with family or friends.

Schellenberg said it’s a process that could take months or even years, and he said the court system is only expected to slow down more as border crossings speed up.

To read about the divide in Eagle Pass right now over razor wire along the U.S.-Mexico border, click here.