Backlogged Denver Court To Hear Immigration Cases From New Mexico Facility

By Mónica Ortiz Uribe
September 23, 2014
Immigrant
Courtesy Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Immigrant families are currently housed in these rooms at the detention facility in Artesia, N.M. The facility only admits women and children.

Immigration judges in Denver will hear cases from a detention center in New Mexico starting Sept. 29. The switch will align the court and detainees into the same time zone. 

More than 500 Central American women and children are currently being held at the detention center in Artesia, N.M. The hearings with the Denver judges will be done via video teleconference and include removal proceedings and interviews to determine whether a detainee is eligible for asylum.

U.S. Department of Justice records show Denver immigration courts are already backlogged with individual hearing dates scheduled through 2017. Judges in Virginia are currently hearing the Artesia cases.