A new federal immigration court will soon open in Chelmsford, Massachusetts.
Migrants are continuing to arrive each day, with most awaiting court dates for judges to hear their cases.
As the situation continues to burden the court system, the U.S. Department of Justice plans to open the new Lowell Immigration Court on Chelmsford's Apollo Drive.
"I hope it provides immediate relief to many, many families who are waiting in this backlog," said Sarah Sherman-Stokes, associate director of the immigrants' rights and human trafficking program at the Boston University School of Law.
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The U.S. Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees immigration courts, says the new facility is opening up in an effort to help combat Massachusetts' immigration court backlog, currently the seventh-largest in the nation.
But Sherman-Stokes says this is the wrong response.
"We don't have to continue building jails. We don't have to continue building courts," she said. "We could make different decisions on the front end about who we arrest at the border, who we place in deportation proceedings."
The Executive Office for Immigration Review says its highest priority is reducing the backlog. It says it is encouraging the use of pre-hearing conferences to resolve matters that don't require valuable court docket time, as well as allowing lawyers to assist noncitizens with proceedings without requiring them to commit to full cases.
The court is expected to open in early April.
