US immigration courts struggle amid understaffing and backlog of cases

Judges, scholars and attorneys all concerned whether people due in court will receive notice before their hearings

America's immigration courts are struggling to function at the most basic level, with judges who are already woefully understaffed and often undertrained now overwhelmed by a growing backlog of more than 1.6m cases, industry leaders have warned.

The system is so damaged that judges, scholars and attorneys all share concerns about whether immigrants due in court will even receive notice before their hearings so they know to show up and aren't ordered deported in absentia - an urgent concern made worse by volatile immigration policies at the US-Mexico border.