Six years to removal? Inside America’s broken immigration courts

In drab, windowless rooms strung along a tight corridor, migrants who have flooded into the United States in recent years trickle before immigration judges each weekday morning.

These makeshift courtrooms are a far cry from the scorched border with Mexico and busy ports and airports through which these millions of immigrants have entered the United States, almost all illegally. But despite the differences in miles, atmosphere, and often language, the people appearing in U.S. immigration court (“alien respondents,” in legal terms) know what is afoot.

Migrants displayed a savvy understanding of immigration law that allows the adjudication of the proceedings to stretch for years.

In many cases, they are making their first appearance after being in the U.S. for years, and with careful pleadings and use of appeals,

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