Joe Biden hired more immigration judges, but didn’t double their ranks

President Joe Biden increased the number of immigration judges in the U.S., but he did not double it as promised. 

There are a record 3.7 million pending immigration court cases in the U.S. That number has grown throughout Biden's presidency even as his administration has hired more judges and completed more cases.

There were 517 immigration judges in the Executive Office for Immigration Review in 2020 before Biden took office. There were 735 in 2024, an increase of 42%, the Justice Department reported. 

The administration hired 338 new immigration judges in the past four years, which is about the same as the 336 immigration judges hired in the four years before Biden took office. 

The immigration review office completed 66% more cases in fiscal year 2023 than in 2022, according to its 2025 budget request, but the number of pending cases kept growing.

The Justice Department requested $981 million to fund the Executive Office for Immigration Review in fiscal year 2025. That includes an "Adjudication Optimization Initiative," which would go partly toward hiring 25 new immigration judges and 125 support staff to address the pending caseload. The office has been funded at 2023 levels with continuing resolutions in the past two years, and it's unclear whether Congress will appropriate the requested funding. 

Biden increased the number of judges hearing immigration cases substantially, consistent with his promise. But he did not double the number as pledged. We rate this Compromise.