The Department of Homeland Security sharply ramped up formal deportation filings in March, issuing about 47,900 new Notices to Appear, roughly double the count from a year earlier. Immigration lawyers say the wave of cases risks swamping an already overburdened court system. Advocates warn the push will increase the odds of in‑absentia removal orders and make it tougher for people to find counsel and get a full hearing. For Washington readers, the spike highlights growing federal pressure on local courts and the legal services that represent noncitizens.
According to TRAC, DHS filed 47,900 NTAs in March 2026 compared with 24,507 in March 2025. TRAC's case‑by‑case data show that most of the new filings alleged immigration violations such as illegal entry or overstaying a visa, more than 23,300 people in March, while only 55 cases listed criminal grounds and just two cited national‑security or terrorism charges. The Syracuse analysis notes that the filings are arriving even as court resources and personnel remain strained.
At the same time, administration officials are signaling a tougher enforcement posture. White House border czar Tom Homan told attendees at a Phoenix security conference that “mass deportations are coming,” a line reported by the Washington Examiner. Legal groups say the rhetoric matters because the courts have lost judges and institutional capacity. The American Immigration Lawyers Association has flagged recent firings and rule changes that advocates say chip away at due‑process safeguards. Local clinics say that more NTAs combined with fewer judges will make it harder to secure representation and will nudge cases toward faster, less‑contested resolutions.
TRAC also reports that the average time to dispose of a case has climbed to about 803 days and that people with pending cases have already waited roughly 882 days on average. Scheduling waits for asylum applicants now average about 1,764 days. Because closures have not kept pace with the new filings, TRAC warns that the overall backlog will grow if the filing surge continues. Regional outlets have picked up the data; WKBN summarized the TRAC findings for local audiences.
Immigration attorneys and community advocates say the consequences are already showing up in casework. More people now face the prospect of deportation without counsel, language access or timely hearings. The American Immigration Lawyers Association has urged Congress to restore staffing, protect judges from politicized removals and increase funding for representation, warning that without those fixes an increased pace of NTAs could mean more people lose cases by default. Nonprofit legal networks in Washington are bracing for a fresh wave of intake calls and emergency motions.
What This Means In Court
Federal law permits an immigration judge to enter a removal order in absentia if the government shows the respondent received proper written notice of the hearing. The statute that governs removal proceedings is codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1229a. As explained by Cornell Law, an in‑absentia order can be rescinded only in narrow circumstances and can bar eligibility for many forms of relief for years. That is why advocates warn that rapid filings combined with fewer judges increase the risk of irreversible outcomes for respondents. Attorneys say courts should prioritize notice, access to counsel and continuances where possible to avoid unfair defaults.
TRAC has already added the new case‑by‑case entries to its public tools for reporters and researchers, and local coverage is starting to track how the filing surge will play out at the court level. For Washington, D.C., the numbers mean more demand on legal services and a sharper need for judicial resources if the system is going to deliver both speed and fairness.
