Migrants in Boston’s fast-track immigration court are more likely to be ordered deported, report finds (The Boston Globe)

Below is an excerpt from a June 22 article published in The Boston Globe about the impact of a new immigration court program called the “Dedicated Docket.” De Novo Center for Justice and Healing Immigration Supervisor Valerie Fisk is quoted.

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When the Biden administration announced in July 2021 a new immigration court program in Boston, top officials promised it would make asylum cases faster and fairer for migrant families.

Two years later, those promises are far from being fulfilled, according to local advocates and a new report from an immigration clinic at Harvard Law School that provides the first detailed review of Boston’s expedited program, called the “Dedicated Docket.”

Migrants assigned to Boston’s fast-track program are more likely to be ordered deported, less likely to be represented by an attorney, and less likely to prevail in an asylum case compared to those who are funneled into Boston’s regular immigration court, the report found. A key problem, the report concluded, is that migrants assigned to the new program struggle to secure legal representation within an expedited timeline of 300 days to have their cases decided.

Read more at The Boston Globe.