Utah to finally get immigration court

WASHINGTON — A permanent federal immigration court, along with an immigration judge and two trial attorneys to prosecute the cases, is coming to Utah.

U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has been pushing the Department of Justice for months to establish an immigration court in Utah, confirmed Monday what he told the Deseret Morning News last month, that Utah would soon be getting the new court.

"We must protect our borders and be vigilant in the enforcement of our immigration laws," Hatch said. "Utah's need to address immigration issues is evident in our dramatic increase in immigration cases."

Hatch said the number of new Utah immigration cases requiring adjudication has grown from about 340 in 2000 to more than 1,000 cases in 2003.

"We had all kinds of problems because of the dramatic increase in cases," Hatch said.

He noted the "number of new cases has tripled," creating a backlog and delaying justice.

"It seems to me that placing an immigration court in Utah will produce swifter processing of cases to be heard and resolved," he said.

Having a federal immigration judge in Utah will help the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Salt Lake to process "criminal aliens and others who need to be seen by an immigration judge," Hatch said.

It will also "permit local immigration officials to address the existing and growing case load and also provide the opportunity for Utah immigration cases to be heard in person before a judge," he said.

Minority leaders could not be reached for comment late Monday.

Immigration courts are established by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) within the Department of Justice, which also appoints the judges, who are not subject to Senate approval. Decisions reached by the immigration courts can be appealed to a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals just as cases can be appealed from a U.S. District Court.

Historically, Utah has been part of the Denver district for immigration cases, and judges used to fly to Utah frequently to hear cases. More recently, in the wake of a growing backlog of cases, the Department of Justice has resorted to teleconferencing the judicial proceedings.

That, said Hatch, is no way to arrive at fair and equitable justice.