Immigration court statistics show a system handling millions of pending cases while receipts, decisions, appeals, and staffing change from year to year. The figures below come from Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) reports and identify the fiscal year or partial fiscal year covered.
Contents
- Caseload, receipts, and completions
- Removal decisions and in-absentia orders
- Asylum applications and decisions
- Unaccompanied children in court
- Adjournments and appeals
- Immigration judge staffing
Caseload, receipts, and completions
EOIR reported 1,391,386 pending immigration court cases at the end of FY 2019. Pending cases rose to 1,551,996 at the end of FY 2020 and 1,694,255 at the end of FY 2021. The reported total then reached 2,105,316 at the end of FY 2022 and 2,811,599 at the end of FY 2023. (EOIR, “Pending Cases, New Cases, and Total Completions”)
The reported pending total was 3,924,993 at the end of FY 2024 and 3,722,776 at the end of FY 2025. EOIR reported 3,469,569 pending cases through the third quarter of FY 2026. That last figure covers only three quarters, so it is not a full-year total. (EOIR, “Pending Cases, New Cases, and Total Completions”)
| Fiscal period | Pending immigration court cases |
|---|---|
| FY 2022 | 2,105,316 |
| FY 2023 | 2,811,599 |
| FY 2024 | 3,924,993 |
| FY 2025 | 3,722,776 |
| FY 2026 through Q3 | 3,469,569 |
New case receipts and completions also varied. EOIR recorded 1,206,102 initial receipts and 526,812 total completions in FY 2023. In FY 2024, initial receipts were 1,783,905 and total completions were 705,249. These measures describe activity during each fiscal year, while pending cases describe the caseload at a point in time. (EOIR, “New Cases and Total Completions”)
The pending-case series is therefore a workload measure rather than a count of people who newly entered court during a year. Receipts measure cases added during the period, and completions measure cases resolved or otherwise completed under EOIR’s reporting categories. Comparing the measures can help describe system activity, but the supplied totals do not identify the legal posture, nationality, representation status, or outcome of every pending case.
Removal decisions and in-absentia orders
Through the third quarter of FY 2026, immigration judges issued 476,650 initial removal decisions. Of those, 278,724 were issued in absentia, meaning the respondent was not present for the decision. The same EOIR report recorded 13,899 grants of relief in initial removal, deportation, or exclusion decisions. It also recorded 72,761 voluntary-departure or withdrawal-of-application decisions and 76,706 terminate-or-dismissal decisions. (EOIR, “FY 2026 Decision Outcomes”)
EOIR recorded 223,502 total in-absentia removal orders in FY 2024 and 311,130 in FY 2025. For respondents with an asylum application, the corresponding totals were 19,069 in FY 2024 and 50,254 in FY 2025. These are reported counts for the stated fiscal years; they do not establish why an individual was absent or predict the result of a particular case. (EOIR, “In Absentia Removal Orders”; EOIR, “Asylum Applicant In Absentia Removal Orders”)
Asylum applications and decisions
EOIR recorded 22,501 asylum grants and 26,490 asylum denials in FY 2022. The FY 2023 totals were 32,073 grants and 34,634 denials. In FY 2024, EOIR recorded 32,436 grants and 38,529 denials. The FY 2025 figures were 26,599 grants and 82,431 denials. (EOIR, “Asylum Decisions”)
Through the third quarter of FY 2026, EOIR recorded 7,231 asylum grants, 89,740 asylum denials, and 92,081 abandoned asylum applications. The report recorded 254,680 total asylum decisions for that partial fiscal year. Because FY 2026 covers only three quarters here, its totals should not be compared with full-year figures as though they covered the same duration. (EOIR, “Asylum Decisions”)
Applications filed and applications remaining pending provide another view of demand. EOIR recorded 515,929 total asylum applications filed and 1,781,532 remaining pending in FY 2023. In FY 2024, the figures were 912,717 filed and 2,530,933 pending. FY 2025 had 879,603 filed and 2,508,982 pending. Through the third quarter of FY 2026, EOIR recorded 199,069 filed and 2,324,099 remaining pending. (EOIR, “Total Asylum Applications”)
| Fiscal period | Applications filed | Applications remaining pending |
|---|---|---|
| FY 2023 | 515,929 | 1,781,532 |
| FY 2024 | 912,717 | 2,530,933 |
| FY 2025 | 879,603 | 2,508,982 |
| FY 2026 through Q3 | 199,069 | 2,324,099 |
Grants, denials, abandonments, filings, and pending applications are different measures. They should not be combined into a single approval rate or treated as if they refer to the same group of applications without additional case-level information.
The asylum figures also cover different stages of the process. Applications filed are entries recorded during the stated period, while applications remaining pending are a stock measured at the reporting point. Grants and denials are decision outcomes, and abandoned applications are reported separately. The numbers can help readers understand the scale of the adjudication workload, but they do not show how long each application was pending or whether a later appeal changed an outcome.
Unaccompanied children in court
EOIR reported 57,918 pending unaccompanied-alien-child, or UAC, cases at the end of FY 2022. Of those, 14,214 had been pending more than five years. At the end of FY 2023, the totals were 44,082 pending and 13,560 pending more than five years. At the end of FY 2024, EOIR reported 31,436 pending, including 12,873 pending more than five years. (EOIR, “Pending Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC) Cases”)
The reported UAC caseload was 22,884 in FY 2025, including 11,655 cases pending more than five years. Through the third quarter of FY 2026, it was 16,560, including 9,906 pending more than five years. These figures concern pending UAC cases, not every unaccompanied child encountered or every immigration matter involving a child. (EOIR, “Pending Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC) Cases”)
For UAC cases through the third quarter of FY 2026, the median pending time was 2,398 days and the median completion time was 1,084 days. EOIR also recorded 49 UAC relief grants and 4,838 UAC removal decisions during that period. A median is the midpoint of the reported cases, not the time that every child waited. (EOIR, “Median Unaccompanied Alien Child (UAC) Case Completion and Case Pending Time”; EOIR, “Unaccompanied Alien Child Statistics”)
Adjournments and appeals
EOIR recorded 1,805,710 hearing adjournments in FY 2019, including 1,542,634 in-person adjournments. The FY 2020 total was 1,279,642, including 280,521 internet-or-VTC adjournments. In FY 2021, EOIR recorded 396,868 adjournments, including 25,726 telephonic adjournments. (EOIR, “Hearing Adjournments by Medium and Fiscal Year”)
Adjournments later rose to 1,989,634 in FY 2023, 2,538,842 in FY 2024, and 2,622,342 in FY 2025. Through the third quarter of FY 2026, EOIR recorded 1,860,166 adjournments, including 4,729 telephonic adjournments. The reported medium categories differ by year, so individual subcategories should not be assumed to be directly comparable across every period. (EOIR, “Hearing Adjournments by Medium and Fiscal Year”)
The Board of Immigration Appeals received 50,867 appeals, completed 35,882, and had 133,164 pending in FY 2023. In FY 2024, it received 50,432, completed 44,785, and had 138,589 pending. FY 2025 included 99,593 received, 35,362 completed, and 202,675 pending. Through the third quarter of FY 2026, the Board received 114,406, completed 34,668, and had 282,434 pending. (EOIR, “All Appeals Filed, Completed, and Pending”)
Immigration judge staffing
EOIR hired 104 immigration judges and reported 634 total immigration judges on board in FY 2022. In FY 2023, it hired 133 and had 734 on board. In FY 2024, EOIR hired 46 and reported 735 on board. (EOIR, “Immigration Judge (IJ) Hiring”)
EOIR reported 14 hires and 634 total immigration judges on board in FY 2025. Through the third quarter of FY 2026, it reported 192 hires and 662 judges on board. The “on board” measure is staffing at the stated reporting point, while hires are additions recorded during the period; the two figures answer different questions about capacity. (EOIR, “Immigration Judge (IJ) Hiring”)