US deploying fifty more judges to curb illegal immigration
BBC
Washington: The US Department of Justice is deploying 50 judges to immigration detention centres to clear a backlog of more than half a million cases, reports BBC.
The judges will boost President Trumps push to toughen enforcement of the law on illegal immigration.
In January he issued an executive order aiming to speed up deportations and hold migrants in detention centres until their cases can be heard. But the court system is clogged up and the centres short of space.
Mr Trumps executive order directed the secretary for homeland security to expand capacity and end the policy known as catch and release, whereby immigrants held after crossing the border illegally are freed pending court hearings.
Now the Department of Justice has confirmed that a letter was sent requesting the deployment of extra judges. They will work from detention centres to speed up the process of determining whether asylum is granted or deportation orders should be issued.
Currently a small number of such judges work from detention centres but most work from courts around the country.
The extra judges will be sent to locations near the Mexican border as well as other states across the US.
An estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants, many from Mexico, live in the US.
Following the executive order, new rules announced by Mr Trumps administration last month included plans to send undocumented people to Mexico, even if they are not Mexicans, and expand the criteria for immediate deportations. The government said the new guidelines would not usher in mass deportations, but were designed to empower agents to enforce laws already on the books.
Mr Trump has also ordered a wall be built on the Mexican border and insisted Mexico will pay for it, despite its repeated refusals.
The president made immigration and border control a key part of his election campaign, promising to protect Americans from bad dudes.
