(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s administration is constructing temporary court facilities in Laredo and Brownsville, Texas, to deal with a backlog of immigration cases at the U.S. southern border, Department of Homeland Security officials said.
The first hearing at a temporary court in Laredo took place on Wednesday, and the second location in Brownsville will open on Thursday, said the officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. The effort provides 18 temporary hearing rooms to Laredo.
The courts consist of modular buildings, tented walkways and trailers, and they have waiting rooms for attorneys, witnesses and the public. The officials said they will operate like any other immigration court, with judges joining by video conference for hearings.
The U.S. immigration court system faces a backlog of more than 975,000 cases, according to Syracuse University’s TRAC system that monitors federal enforcement, staffing and spending.
The temporary courts are intended to allow the Trump administration to more easily return some asylum seekers to Mexico to await their legal proceedings, a policy the U.S. government started earlier this year.
Two temporary court facilities are operating in San Diego and El Paso and officials said they have helped alleviate the backlog of cases there.
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