Seattle’s immigration court will be closed until April 10 amid the coronavirus pandemic, and several other large immigration courts will postpone hearings for larger groups of immigrants who are not detained.
FILE - In this May 14, 2013, file photo, the Department of Justice headquarters building in Washington is photographed early in the morning. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is the arm of the Justice Department that oversees deportation proceedings _ whether immigrants are allowed stay in the U.S. or whether they are turned back to their countries.
The court in Seattle was temporarily shut down earlier this week over a report of a second-hand exposure to the virus and will remain shut until April 10. Seattle is among the areas hardest hit so far, with a cluster of deaths and dozens sickened. The number of cases in the U.S. was put at around 1,700 Friday, with about 50 deaths. But by some estimates, at least 14,000 people might be infected.
There are 68 immigration courts nationwide; the others will operate as scheduled but officials with EOIR said they are evaluating and will adjust as needed.are dealing with a massive backlog of 1 million cases. There have been some delays of trials among the nation’s criminal courts, and some states have closed courtrooms as the virus spreads.
“In the absence of uniform guidance, some immigration judges have attempted to implement their own risk mitigation strategies,” she wrote. “However, these efforts have been frustrated by a time-consuming bureaucratic process that is simply not sufficient in the current circumstances.”
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