The addition of 55 new federal immigration judges could significantly put a dent in the backlog of immigration cases currently stalling our courts and costing American taxpayers millions of dollars each year.

An increase in the number of judges by this amount — which would raise the number of judges nationwide to 296, up from the current 241— could affect meaningful immigration reform by allowing immigration cases to be heard more quickly and thus saving U.S. taxpayers, who are currently footing the bill to detain thousands of immigrants while they await for their cases to be heard.

High praise should go to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, who told The Monitor on Thursday, in an exclusive interview, that he had requested funding for these judges and it appeared that the money was making its way through Congress.

Cuellar sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and these funds were requested for fiscal 2016 through the House Appropriations Commerce-Justice-Science Subcommittee, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. John Culberson, a Republican from Houston.

Although it has not cleared the House floor, the $124 million request by Cuellar has made it out of subcommittee and remained in the appropriations measure, which Cuellar says is one of the hardest hurdles in Congress.

The congressman was nearly giddy when he spoke to us describing how important such a move like this would be for our federal immigration courts, and for our region, where he has requested many of the judges be placed.

“It’s a victory. I feel extremely excited,” Cuellar said. “I think this will bring fairness to the system, in a sense. Everyone talks about adding Border Patrol, Border Patrol, Border Patrol, but if you just have detentions then you are just adding to the backlog.”

The current wait time for an immigration case is 900 days or 2.5 years. That’s certainly time enough for an immigrant who is not detained to assimilate into society and to get “lost” in our country and become one of the estimated 11 million people living here illegally. Likewise, for immigrants held in detention facilities, waiting this amount of time to have their day in court is not only costly but it violates what we, Americans, consider basic civil rights.

Detainees held in the nation’s three immigration detention facilities — which include facilities in Dilley and Karnes City, Texas — can be held for months behind guarded walls, and all paid for by American taxpayers.

The facility in Dilley is slated to hold 2,400 beds by month’s end and will be the largest detention facility in the country. Currently there are 777 women and 412 children being held there, Royce Murray, director of policy media for the National Immigrant Justice Center said during a media conference call on Wednesday.

Murray and other watchdog organizations toured the facility on Tuesday and said that up to six families can share a room in the 55-acre facility that is the size of 40 football fields.

The privately-run detention facility, operated by Corrections Corporation of America, is paid $275 per day per detainee, said Bob Libal, executive director of Grassroots Leadership in Austin. “At full build out it will bring $660,000 per day or $240 million in annual revenue from this one detention camp,” Libal said.

That’s all paid for with American taxpayer funds and is a prime example of why detainees need to be processed and adjudicated quickly through our courts.

As Cuellar told us: “Right now the backlog is just tremendous so this will allow us to have hearings before the judges on a much faster pace so we can get rid of the backlog. Whatever the judge’s decide — whether they can stay or return — at least they get a day before a judge.”

That is hugely significant.

We hope so.

http://www.themonitor.com/opinion/editorial-more-immigration-judges-will-help-courts-country/article_0680afc4-fa9c-11e4-b75d-5ff9f0a8f49e.html