Expedited Justice? Assessing Procedural Reform in U.S. Immigration Court

• In Event: Legal Representation and Justice Outcomes

Abstract

Can courts be sped up without sacrificing fairness? Existing evidence in criminal and civil contexts suggests that streamlining courts can cause net positive case outcomes, but this may not generalize to other legal settings. I study the equity-efficiency tradeoff of speed in immigration court, an especially complex legal system where defendants often face language barriers and lack institutional knowledge. Using publicly available administrative case data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review, I analyze the Dedicated Docket (DD), a 2021 policy that mandates judges decide cases within 300 days for certain families seeking asylum in the U.S. To estimate the policy’s effects, I exploit the sudden implementation of DD and instrument DD placement with families’ U.S. entry date relative to the policy’s start date. I find that DD placement significantly reduces time to case completion, confirming efficiency gains. Simultaneously, DD placement increases the probability of a removal order, indicating compromised equity. Preliminary analysis suggests the results are driven by reduced access to legal representation and selection on asylum-seekers’ nationality. My findings show that procedural reform can generate unintended distributional consequences for vulnerable populations and underscore the need to account for institutional capacity in the design of legal reforms.

Author

• Paul Lapinski, American University
  Presenting Author