Immigration Court Allows 57% of Non-Citizens to Remain in U.S.

The following Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) report (see below) revealed that, out of 169,258 noncitizens against whom DHS sought removal orders during the first 10 months of fiscal year 2016, Immigration Judges found that 96,223—or 57 percent—were entitled to remain in the United States.

During the first ten months of fiscal year 2016, immigration judges have determined that 96,223 noncitizens against whom Homeland Security sought removal orders were entitled to remain in this country. By the end of this fiscal year this pace is on track to surpass the record set last year of 106,676 noncitizens that the court found could remain in the U.S. These outcomes account for 56.8 percent of all cases that judges in immigration court have decided so far this year. See Figure 1.

Screenshot 2016-08-21 19.28.11

One in four individuals (25%) allowed to stay was from Mexico. Over four out of ten (44%) were from the three Central American countries — El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras — where in recent years large numbers of unaccompanied children and women with children have come to this country seeking asylum. These figures are based upon case-by-case court records updated through the end of July 2016 obtained and analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

There are a number of reasons why an individual may be allowed to remain in the country. For example, the judge can find that the government did not meet its burden to show the individual was deportable. Or, the judge may have found that the individual was entitled to asylum in this country, or may grant relief from removal under other provisions of the law. A person also may be allowed to remain because the government requests that the case be administratively closed through the exercise of ICE’s prosecutorial discretion, or for some other reason.

Deportation Outcomes by Immigration Court

A free web app allows users to examine these cases in more detail by nationality, charge, Immigration Court, and hearing location. Outcomes, for example, vary markedly by Immigration Court. The Phoenix Immigration Court had the highest proportion of individuals who were allowed to stay. In more than four out of every five (82.2%) of its 3,554 cases closed so far in FY 2016 the individuals were successful in their quest to remain in the U.S.

The New York Immigration Court was in second place with 81.5 percent of the individuals in its 16,152 cases closed so far this year allowed to remain in the U.S. The Denver Immigration Court came in third with 78.0 percent of the 831 individuals in its cases successful in their quest to stay in this country.

At the other extreme were the Oakdale, Louisiana, Lumpkin (Stewart), Georgia, and Napanoch (Ulster), New York Immigration Courts where only between 11.3 percent and 17.5 percent of the individuals were allowed to remain in the U.S. Each of these courts handle cases for individuals who are held in detention.

Similar figures, including rankings, for each of the 55 Immigration Courts are listed below in Table 1. Begin Table 1

Table 1. Outcome in Immigration Court Cases, FY 2016 (October 2015 – July 2016)

Immigration Court	Closed Cases	Percent Allowed Stay	Rank
All Courts	169,258	56.8
Phoenix	3,554	82.2	1
New York	16,152	81.5	2
Denver	831	78.0	3
San Antonio	3,704	76.8	4
Miami	7,513	75.8	5
Newark	3,358	75.1	6
Philadelphia	2,325	74.1	7
Boston	4,142	73.9	8
Guaynabo	186	71.5	9
Los Angeles	17,981	70.4	10
San Francisco	9,447	70.3	11
Honolulu	353	68.8	12
Cleveland	2,202	64.9	13
Detroit	1,915	64.8	14
Portland	1,037	64.0	15
New Orleans	3,067	63.1	16
Baltimore	4,247	61.8	17
Seattle	2,440	61.7	18
Arlington	7,082	61.0	19
Las Vegas	2,738	60.4	20
Bloomington	1,563	59.3	21
San Diego	2,415	58.1	22
Memphis	5,189	57.5	23
Orlando	3,204	56.3	24
Hartford	1,166	55.3	25
Omaha	1,403	54.5	26
Saipan	13	53.8	27
Pearsall	1,594	53.5	28
Kansas City	1,760	52.8	29
Hagatna	21	52.4	30
Buffalo	1,299	52.0	31
Los Fresnos	1,505	46.1	32
Chicago	3,456	45.4	33
El Paso	3,183	45.3	34
Imperial	393	43.3	35
Atlanta	7,278	41.0	36
Tucson	734	41.0	36
Aurora	786	40.2	38
Harlingen	1,929	38.5	39
Elizabeth	1,156	38.0	40
West Valley	821	37.3	41
Houston – Detained	3,657	36.3	42
Tacoma	1,572	34.9	43
York	1,336	31.8	44
Miami – Krome	2,177	31.8	44
New York – Detain	632	29.4	46
Florence	1,004	28.9	47
Adelanto	1,789	26.2	48
Charlotte	4,153	25.9	49
Dallas	6,826	23.8	50
Houston	4,807	21.0	51
Eloy	1,466	19.4	52
Oakdale	2,240	17.5	53
Lumpkin	2,191	13.1	54
Napanoch	266	11.3	55