L.A. Immigration Court caseload soars

"I don't think it's possible for a court to implode from weight, but we may see," said former L.A. Immigration Judge Gilbert T. Gembacz, who retired last month after more than a decade on the bench.

Los Angeles immigration judges heard 27,200 cases last fiscal year, up from about 17,800 in 2000. In the last fiscal year alone, the number of immigration cases rose nearly 40%.

Today, 23 judges are assigned to Immigration Court, just two more than in 2000.

Immigration courts nationwide mirror the trend. Last fiscal year, judges heard 334,600 cases, up from 254,500 in 2000. During the same period, the number of judges increased to 220 from 207.

"Because of the high volume of the immigration docket, there is a great concern that respondents appearing before us do not believe they are given adequate opportunity to present their cases," said San Francisco Immigration Judge Dana Leigh Marks, head of the National Assn. of Immigration Judges, the judges' union.

Cases are also becoming more difficult as laws change and new regulations are written, making it harder for judges to complete cases quickly.

"You are asking us to do death penalty cases in a traffic court setting with traffic court resources," Marks said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the courts are critical to the government's crackdown on illegal immigration.

"We can go out there and make arrests," she said, "but the efficiency of the legal process is going to have a tremendous impact on the outcome."

44 cases, 1 judge

On a recent day in Los Angeles Immigration Court, one judge had 44 cases on the docket. Every seat was filled, and a crowd waited in the hall. The judge heard the cases quickly, getting updates, asking questions and setting new court dates -- sometimes six months in the future.

A few floors down, immigration attorney P. Joseph Sandoval said he arrived 15 minutes early for his appearance, but the court was already packed and seven other attorneys had checked in before him.

"It's frustrating for both the clients as well as the attorneys, because the number of cases keeps increasing but the number of judges doesn't," he said.

As a result, Sandoval said, cases can drag on for years. He cited a Russian client who first appeared in Los Angeles Immigration Court in 2002 and whose case still has not been resolved. Now, he said, a recent appellate court decision may derail her chances of becoming a legal resident.

Beverly Hills attorney Ed Pilot said he has a Nigerian asylum case that has been going on since 1999. The case was about to finish in early 2007 when the assigned judge retired. Pilot said his client has not had a hearing since and is not scheduled to appear in court until December.

"It's sort of like an athlete who has put on his game face and is in game mode, all for naught," he said.

When another judge, Gembacz, retired, he was handling a workload of more than 1,600 active cases. Despite time pressures, Gembacz said, he let people tell their stories -- even if it took longer than necessary.

"They have waited two, three, four years," he said. "It's only fair to give them the time."