NAIJ President Tsankov Testifies Before House Immigration Subcommittee, Calls for Independent Immigration Court

On Thursday, Judge Mimi Tsankov, President of the National Association of Immigration Judges -IFPTE Judicial Council 2, testified before the House Judiciary Committee’s Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee on the need to reform the Immigration Court.

Judge Tsankov shared her experiences and the challenges that NAIJ members face at their jobs - from the improper politicization of the court, the crushing case backlog, technology and resource challenges, mismanagement, and the inherent structural flaw of having the immigration court placed within a law enforcement agency -- the Department of Justice (DOJ).

With the crisis at the immigration courts persisting across successive presidential administrations, Democratic and Republican, Judge Tsankov will reiterate NAIJ's long-held position and call on Congress to pass legislation to create an independent Article 1 immigration court is is outside the DOJ.

Watch Judge Tsankov's testimony here. Judge Tsankov’s testimony begins at the 21 minute mark.

• NAIJ in the News:

  1/20/22 —Fixing the 1.6M Immigration Court Case Backlog Means Moving It Away From DOJ, Judge Says (Newsweek)

  From the article: "It's been described as kind of a traffic court setting with life and death implications," Tsankov said. "So, judges really are struggling in terms of just finding sufficient time to prep their cases."
  

  1/19/22 — Congress Mulls Independent Immigration Courts as Backlog Soars (Roll Call)
  From the article: Mimi Tsankov, president of the immigration judges’ union and one of the hearing panelists, said she will address in her opening remarks the “root causes” of the challenges facing the immigration courts, including lengthy case backlogs.