The Accidental History of the U.S. Immigration Courts: War, Fear, and the Roots of Dysfunction

How the immigration courts became part of the nation's law enforcement agency-and how to reshape them.

During the Trump administration, the immigration courts were decried as more politicized enforcement weapon than impartial tribunal. Yet few people are aware of a fundamental flaw in the system that has long pre-dated that administration: The immigration courts are not really "courts" at all but an office of the Department of Justice-the nation's law enforcement agency.

This original and ...