The Biden administration plans to speed up court cases for recently arrived migrant families who are seeking asylum, the Department of Homeland Security announced Friday. m
The move is reminiscent of previous attempts to quickly hear cases under the Obama and Trump administrations. At the time, immigrant advocates and attorneys raised concerns over rushing asylum cases and undermining due process. A Homeland Security official stressed, however, that the key difference now is that families will have early and ample access to legal representation and judges will not be subject to strict time constraints.
"The mission of the Department of Justice's immigration courts is to decide the cases that come before them promptly and fairly," said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement."This new program for certain newly arriving families will help achieve that critically important goal."Immigration judges are expected to issue decisions within 300 days of the master calendar hearing, barring unique circumstances, according to the administration.