O'Malley, Devin (OPA) From: O'Malley, Devin (OPA) Sent: Thursday, November 2, 2017 7:19 PM To: (b)( 6) - Alex Pfeiffer Cc: Sutton, Sa ra h E. {OPA) Subject: Tomorrow's Backgrounder Attachments: 171102_ EOIR_Caseload_ Reduction_Plan_ Backgrounde r. pdf; 171031_OOAG_ EOIR_MEMO.pdf H ey Alex- ~econtents ofthis email and tomon:o,,-'s backgrounder are embargoed until the conclusion of tomorrow's meeting. Kone. ofthe documents attached can be published in any way. Just so you know, we uill be hosting a larger background \\"'ith D OJ beat reporters and some immigration reporters. Those reporters are not gettfr1g the memo, nor will they be getting some additional info I'll se.tid to you later tonight. They will be subject to an embargo until 2:00 pm.** I'm looking fot\t:'ard to tomot:ro\.'\'s backgrounder. You'll be speaking withJames .McHenry (Acting Director, Execufa·e Office for Immigration Re\.·iew) and Gene Hamilton (Counselor., Office of the Attorney Gene.cal), and both can be cited as "D OJ official.." Offthe record, you'll notice one line in there about the current space and hm,· many courtrooms it fits; since the memo was published, ,ve've been able to increase that number, so it's outdated and I'd avoid using it. I'm probably going to send you one or two more background items. for your piece later tonight. I',;,-e copied some additional background belm.v: As noted in early August, the Executi\Te Office for Immigration ReYieW has seen anincrease in key statistics under this .Administration_ This trend has continued through September 30th (2/1/ 2016- 9 130/ 2016 n. 2/ 1 1201- -9/ 30/ 2011: • Total Orders ofRemm·al: 68>634 o L"p 29c a onr the same time period in 2016 • Total Orders ofRenmrnl and Y'oluntary Departure: 781767 o L"p 33°10 o,er the same time period in2016 • Total Final Decisions: 1001921 o l."p 16°'0 o,er the same time period in 2016 On April 11, 201-, the Attomey General announced the implementation ofa «streamlined hiring plan,, for immiguition judges. The first ad under this Attom~ Geneml closed at the end ofJune. Inten-ie\\"s occuued in September, and the D epartment ea-pects to have recomi:nendations on the Attomey General's desk bythe beginning ofDecember. The entice process (ad closure to start date) is expected to take 6-8 months-do,'--n from 18-24 months. Document ID: 0.7.910.10946 20201 130-0000664 In another e..'{ample of 'Xorking to tackle the large pending caseload \\itbin the immigration court system, this me;:im was issued addressing continuances. Some rele'\'"ant excerpts: • "In 2012, the Office of the Inspector General ofthe "C.S. Dep~ent ofJustice found that ''frequent and lengthy continuances" 'Xere a significa.'1t contributing factor to increased case processing times and that over half of all cases surreyed had one or more continuances, with an a,·erage in those cases offour continuances and 368 days ofcontinuance, per case." • "_-\ recent teport bf the "C.S. Go°\emment Accountabilitf Office sho\,ed that the use of continuances in immigration px:oceedings incceased 23~10 between fiscal years 2006 and 2015.» • "Although fundamental faimess and due process require that legal proceedings be postponed in appropriate circumstances, Immigration Judges must also be mindful ofthe effects of frequent and lengthy continuances, particularly when they are not supported by good cause, on the efficient administration of ,ustice for both respondents and the public." Pursuant to the Presidertt's Executi,e Order 1T6-: Border Security andimmigratiot1Enforcement Impro"t"ements, o,er one hoodred immigration judges have been mobilized to D epartment ofHomeland Security detention facilities across the country, including along the southern border. This mobili:zatio11 includes both in-person ass-ignme-nts and dockets heard Yia ,ideo teleconferencing. E OIR analyzed the results of the surge to historical outcome data, and projected that the mobilized i.rrunigtation judges completed approximately 2,- oo more cases than expected ifthe immigration iudges had not been detailed r-i,ta.rch-September 20F). The data is as follows: Home Court Base Cities MlA WAS 1-----LOS NYC SFR MEM ATL KAN NEW SND LVG NOL ORL SEA PH I DAL DEN CH I BOS CLE OCT PHO SLC HOU I-ILG SNA D A I Document ID: 0.7.910.10946 20201130-0000665 C M L, TUC CHL HAR BUF O MA SAJ TAC BTV NYO Total Corley (TX) Chicago (IL) Krome FL) Otero (TX) Hutto (TX) Polk (TX) Oakdale - IHP Prarieland TX Glades (Fl) Adelanto (CA) Laredo (TXJ Eloy AZJ lmperiat (CA) Ka.rnes (TX) Cfbola (NM) Chicago IH P Krome - Other Dilley fTX) Total As you know, this type ofaction is needed as the pending caseload has increased from 298,000 in FY201 1 to 630,000 inPY201-. ~-wd .receipts (ie., !leu- cases) continue to rise: Fiscal Year New Receipts 2015 202,000 2016 238,000 201- 289,000 De,in M. O'Malley Departmen t ofJustice Office ofPublic A.ffai.rs Document ID: 0.7.910.10946 20201 130-0000666 Office: (b)(6) Cell: (b)(6) Document ID: 0.7.910.10946 20201130-0000667 EOIR’S STRATEGIC CASELOAD REDUCTION PLAN The pending caseload for the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has almost doubled since 11.20 Indeed, s of a September 22, 2017, EOIR’s pending caseload at the immigration judge (IJ) level exceeded 00 634,. Not 0 all of those cases, arehowever, appropriately classified as “backlogged.” For instance, detained cases are generally resolved at the IJ level in 70days or less and, thus, are not backlogged in any meaningful sense. Many immigration cases also include riders, spouses or children “riding” with the principal case. Although each rider is counted toward the 00 634, 0total, riders and principals generally form only one case for adjudicatory purposes. Thus, including riders overstates the actual number of separate cases pending. Finally, a certain percentage of cases will always be docketed at any given time. These cases cannot be considered backlogged, especially if they have been pending for less than the median case adjudication time. Consequently, excluding detained cases, riders, and cases pending less than the median decision time of 21 months, a more appropriate estimate of the overall number of backlogged cases is approximately 00 . 264, 0 Although this figure is significantly less than 634, 00 , 0EOIR recognizes that it needs to be reduced as expeditiously as possible. Therefore, this memorandum outlines five initiatives that EOIR is implementing to address and reduce the pending caseload. I. BACKGROUND AND GOAL Both extrinsic and intrinsic factors have contributed to EOIR’s immigration court caseload growth, including changes in immigration policies, sluggish hiring of new 20 IJs prior to 17, and decreased IJ productivity. Therefore, EOIR has devised a multi-front plan grounded in five initiatives that address the caseload growth from different perspectives and provide a comprehensive strategy for significantly reducing the caseload 20by 20 . The purpose of EOIR’s caseload reduction strategy is to reduce the overall number of pending cases while maintaining due process. Three independent variables drive the pending non-detained caseload: (1) the number of IJs adjudicating cases; (2) the productivity rate of each individual IJ; and, (3) the number of new cases filed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Consequently, to reverse the caseload growth, EOIR has designed a strategy to increase the first and second variables while working with DHS on accommodating any sudden changes in the third. In short, to reduce the pending caseload, EOIR must increase its number of IJs, increase their productivity, and manage incoming case receipts from DHS. To those ends, EOIR has developed five strategic initiatives that each encompass multiple processes for confronting the pending caseload by addressing one or more of the three independent variables identified above. None of the initiatives are mutually exclusive, and all can and will be pursued simultaneously. II. INITIATIVES TO REDUCE THE PENDING CASELOAD Initiative 1: IncreasingAdjudicatory Capacity EOIR will increase adjudicatory capacity by increasing allocations of IJs, support staff, and space. These increases will improve overall output, as each new IJ 0should 0 average 6 0to 7 0additional 1 Document ID: 0.7.910.10946-000001 20201130-0000668 completed cases annually once she he completes or training. Since 16, FY EOIR 20 has increased its IJ corps from 273 to 332, and is in an ongoing process of hiring more IJs up to its current authorization of 384. If implemented as intended, he Attorney t General’s new streamlined IJ hiringshould process reduce the amount of time to hire new IJs from an average of 742 days under the prior process to six months or less. Thus, EOIR anticipates that it will significantlyincrease its IJ corps within the next year. To support this increase to its cadre of IJs, EOIR must hire additional support staff. Therefore, it is also requesting funding for19 FY to 20set the IJ/law clerk ratio at 1:1. The presence of a dedicated law clerk for each IJ to assist with routine motions, bond memoranda, and other types of legal work would make IJs more efficient by increasing the amount of time IJs spend hearing and deciding cases. Finally, EOIR must also increase space allocations to support its increase in new personnel. Although EOIR is authorized for 384 IJs, it only has courtroom . EOIR space is for working 370 with the General Services Administration (GSA) to identify new space and to expedite build-outs of existing space. Increasing space to increase adjudicatory capacityincludes not only traditional courtrooms, but video teleconferencing (VTC) facilities as well.