Fueled by unprecedented border crossings, a record 3 million cases clog US immigration courts

MIAMI (AP) — Immigration courts are buckling under an unprecedented 3 million pending cases, most of them newly arrived asylum-seekers. The number of migrants trying to fight their deportation in front of U.S. judges has grown by 50% in less than a year. Judges, attorneys and migrant advocates worry that’s rendering an already strained system unworkable, as it often takes several years to grant asylum-seekers a new stable life and to deport those with no right to remain in the country. In Miami, with the largest backlog, so many migrants seek help navigating the complex legal system that Catholic Legal Services has had to pivot to teaching them how to self-petition and represent themselves before judges.