Immigration Deportations Escalate

People arrive for immigration court hearings in New York, Monday, July 27, 2026.

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Breakneck pace in immigration courts is driving up deportation orders

Breakneck pace in immigration courts is driving up deportation orders

The Trump administration is packing immigration courtrooms and giving less lead-time on hearings in an effort to clear a decades-long backlog. The result is a historic rise in the number of people missing court dates and being immediately ordered deported as the system struggles to keep up, new data from Mobile Pathways shows. Supporters of the new strategy say it's helping judges use their time more efficiently. In the courthouses, judges are spending an average of five minutes or less on cases and still not working through all the cases of people who showed up.