The Trump administration has accelerated immigration court schedules nationwide, scheduling dozens to hundreds of cases per judge per day as part of an effort to reduce a backlog that reached 4.2 million cases in January 2025. Preparation time for complex asylum cases has fallen to as little as two weeks, down from about six months before the changes, and no-show rates nearly doubled from 20% to 40% between January 2025 and June 2026, with nearly 79,000 deportation orders issued in June alone compared with about 33,000 in January 2025. In August 2026, judges denied all but one of 488 asylum claims heard in Newark's immigration court, and nationwide 94% of asylum claims were denied that month, while about 8 in 10 of all immigration court cases ended in removal orders, up from roughly 4 in 10 two years earlier. Immigration judges, who are Justice Department employees, have faced increased pressure and firings amid concerns about political influence on their rulings.