FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: media@vera.org

WASHINGTON, DC – In a memo issued last week to staff at the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Trump administration directed immigration judges to fast-track asylum cases by denying asylum seekers a hearing. The move represents yet another assault on the right to due process by the Trump administration.

The United States spent nearly three times as much on immigration detention than on the entire adjudication system for removal and humanitarian claims last fiscal year. As a result of this gross funding imbalance, the immigration court’s backlog of cases has risen every single year since fiscal year 2007—a problem that will only worsen if Congress moves forward with budget plans that could invest up to a half-trillion dollars to drastically expand detention and deportation.

Shayna Kessler and Nicole Melaku, co-leaders of the Fairness to Freedom campaign for universal representation, issued the following statements:

Shayna Kessler, director of the Advancing Universal Representation initiative at the Vera Institute of Justice, said: “This directive has nothing to do with efficiency—it’s about slamming shut the courthouse door on people who have the right to seek asylum and a fair day in court. It’s part of a broader, coordinated effort to erode due process rights and fast-track deportations. These efforts will separate families and funnel people into costly and inhumane detention with no opportunity to defend themselves. The immigration court backlog is a real problem, but this is not the solution. To effectively address the backlog and uphold the right to due process, Congress must invest in the immigration adjudication system, provide legal representation to those navigating it, and create a meaningful pathway to citizenship for those who call this country home.”

Nicole Melaku, executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans, said: “This directive is not about addressing the backlog. The administration is eroding every access point for due process for those with claims to seek asylum under international law. The relentless attacks on immigrants and their families over the last three months, along with this latest effort to force immigration judges to comply with Trump's lawlessness, is shameful. Without access to due process, the president seeks to ensure that we are no longer living in a democracy, but under an authoritarian regime. Instead of investing hundreds of billions of dollars in Trump’s mass detention and deportation agenda, Congress must invest in solutions that uphold and defend due process for all.”

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Fairness to Freedom: The Campaign for Universal Representation was launched by the National Partnership for New Americans and the Vera Institute of Justice in April 2022 with a coalition of over 200 organizations and legal service providers. The campaign’s goal is to support the passage of the Fairness to Freedom Act to establish a federal right to representation for all immigrants facing deportation.