President Donald Trump’s border enforcement strategy is beginning to show measurable results, according to new government data, as the U.S. immigration court system finally closes more cases than it opens for the first time since 2008.
At the end of fiscal year 2024, the immigration backlog had swelled to nearly 3.9 million cases—more than the entire population of Chicago—due largely to lax enforcement and open-border policies under the Biden administration. In just the first three quarters of 2025, however, the Trump administration has reversed that trend. Federal judges closed approximately 588,000 cases while receiving only 448,000 new ones, resulting in a net decrease of more than 87,000 cases.
“This is the first time it’s happened in 17 years,” said Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies. He pointed to the Biden administration’s mass release of migrants with court dates—many of whom never appeared—as the primary driver of the backlog.
From 2021 to 2024, an estimated 2.4 million immigrants entered the U.S. annually, with about 60% doing so illegally, according to the Congressional Budget Office and Goldman Sachs. Arthur noted that Biden officials dismissed or terminated over 700,000 cases during that time—not necessarily through enforcement, but often through administrative closures that left migrants in legal limbo.
“Those aliens are still out there,” he said. “If they didn’t have status then, they don’t have status now.”
By contrast, the Trump administration is actively reducing the case load with a multi-pronged approach: sealing the southern border, ramping up enforcement operations, detaining migrants when possible, and fast-tracking asylum cases. Attorney General Pam Bondi has implemented new procedures to expedite asylum hearings, which make up more than half of the current court backlog.
In many cases, judges are issuing “in absentia” removal orders—essentially deporting migrants who skipped their court dates. Arthur said that trend points to a major flaw in the previous administration’s strategy.
“They never intended to come to court,” he explained. “They came here under Biden, were handed court dates, and disappeared.”
Despite having fewer judges than Biden did—635 now versus 735 last year—the Trump administration is still making headway. That’s expected to accelerate thanks to the administration’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which allocated over $170 billion toward border security and immigration enforcement. Of that, $3.3 billion is set aside for immigration courts and judges.
“That will go to expanding immigration judge hiring, expanding the number of courts, putting more courts down at the border, so the cases can be heard more quickly,” Arthur said.
The speed of resolution is critical. Detained cases can be resolved in a few months, while non-detained ones can take years, sometimes a decade. Trump’s renewed focus on detaining illegal entrants is expected to help clear cases faster.
Ironically, the greatest beneficiaries of Trump’s crackdown may be those with legitimate asylum claims. Faster court processing allows real victims of political persecution—such as those fleeing totalitarian regimes—to gain asylum and quickly begin the process of reuniting with family.
“Everything is better in immigration when cases are done quickly,” Arthur said.
With fewer judges, stronger enforcement, and a major funding boost, Trump’s immigration strategy is beginning to reverse years of systemic dysfunction—one case at a time.
The post Trump Is Making a Dent in the Broken Immigration System, Data Show appeared first on Real News Now.
About Author
