Sessions: Immigration judges must be efficient with backlog 11 SHARES Share it! Share TweetBy the Associated PressAttorney General Jeff Sessions told a group of new immigration judges Monday they have an obligation to decide cases efficiently in a system besieged by ballooning dockets and lengthy backlogs. Speaking to the group of 44 new judges — the largest class of immigration judges in U.S. history — Sessions told them they must keep “our federal laws functioning effectively, fairly, and consistently.”The attorney general has pushed for faster rulings in immigration cases and issued directives preventing judges from administratively closing cases, which has reignited a debate about the independence of immigration judges, who work for the Justice Department and are not part of the judicial branch. Earlier this year, the Justice Department sent a memo to immigration judges telling them they would need to clear at least 700 cases a year in order to receive a “satisfactory” rating on their performance evaluations. On Monday, the attorney general also reiterated the Trump administration’s plan to increase the number of immigration judges by 50 percent compared to the number of judges when Trump took office last year.

Source: Manila Bulletin September 10, 2018 16:41 UTC