Demand Independent Immigration Courts and Adequate Funding

More than 3 million immigration court cases are pending, only 24.2% of people ordered deported had a lawyer, and the courts answer to the Justice Department.

A letter to your members of Congress. Facts checked September 25, 2026.

The Letter

Subject Independent Immigration Courts and Adequate Funding

The immigration courts had 3,092,988 cases pending at the end of August 2026. When a removal order was issued that month, only 24.2% of the immigrants facing it, including unaccompanied children, had a lawyer.

These courts are not part of the independent judiciary. They sit inside the Department of Justice, and immigration judges are attorneys appointed by the Attorney General. A court that decides whether a person can stay in this country should be independent of the political leadership of an executive department, and it needs enough judges and interpreters to decide cases fairly.

Please support legislation that makes the immigration courts independent of the Justice Department and funds them to do their work.

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Call Your Representative

U.S. Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121

I'm calling about the immigration courts.
More than 3 million cases are pending, and only about 1 in 4 people ordered deported had a lawyer.
The courts sit inside the Justice Department, and their judges are appointed by the Attorney General.
Please support legislation that makes the immigration courts independent and funds them properly.

Calls get logged by topic. Volume drives the briefing.

The Facts Behind the Ask

3,092,988 immigration court cases pending at the end of August 2026 (source)
24.2% of immigrants, including unaccompanied children, who had a lawyer when a removal order was issued (August 2026) (source)
8 CFR 1003.10 immigration judges are attorneys appointed by the Attorney General (source)

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