New Issue Brief: How to Close the Border

The “One Big Beautiful Bill” in Congress can give judges the funding and staffing to close the border

NEW YORK, NY – Illegal border crossings are at a historic low, yet the immigration system remains overwhelmed—not at the border, but in the courts. Now, Congress has the opportunity to address this issue in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA).

In a new issue brief, Manhattan Institute fellow Daniel Di Martino highlights how an underfunded and understaffed immigration court system is the central bottleneck preventing deportations. Typically, an illegal immigrant can be deported only after an immigration judge issues a deportation order. With a backlog of more than 4 million pending cases and only about 700 immigration judges, many illegal immigrants remain in the U.S. for years before receiving a final order of removal. 

Di Martino explains the longer it takes to hear removal cases in immigration court, the stronger the magnet to immigrate illegally. The OBBBA aims to nullify these incentives and restore order by allocating more funds to the court system, but it falls short of fully funding immigration courts to fulfill President Trump’s agenda.

To fully enforce immigration law, Di Martino urges Congress to consider the following recommendations: 

• Hire 250 additional immigration judges annually over the next four years to reduce the case backlog from 4 million to under 100,000 by fiscal year 2029. This means $5 billion in funding, not $1.25 billion as currently envisioned in the OBBBA.  
• Implement a “last-in, first-out” rule for processing asylum cases in both immigration courts and at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to expedite processing. 
• Introduce a $1,000 filing fee for affirmative asylum applications, just like the Congressional proposal envisions, which would help deter frivolous claims and generate over $400 million annually, allowing USCIS to hire additional asylum officers. 

Click here to read the full issue brief.