A flood of challenges by immigrants seeking to be freed from detention facilities are delaying civil cases, forcing courts to hire more employees, and prompting some judges to share concerns directly with Chief Justice John Roberts.
The spike in immigration habeas petitions that began last year took federal judges by surprise. While some judges have since made changes to better manage the heavy caseload, courts are still struggling to keep up with the thousands of time-sensitive cases overwhelming crowded dockets, according to interviews with half a dozen federal judges.
“This has imposed on our court a workload that’s unlike anything …