Four years ago, the Biden administration announced a dedicated docket program for newly arriving families apprehended after making an illegal border crossing. The goal of the program was to "decide cases expeditiously" — within 300 days of initial master calendar hearings — without compromising due process or fairness.

I expressed my view of this program at the time, referring to it as a “re-tread of old policies that didn’t work.”

By that time, both the Obama administration and the previous Trump administration had established dedicated dockets to adjudicate cases of newly arriving unaccompanied children and families more quickly. Human Rights First claims that these programs were counterproductive, impaired due process, undermined the right to counsel, and led to high rates of in absentia (in their absence) removal proceedings.

In May 2024, the Biden administration announced another dedicated docket program. This one was for single adults apprehended making an illegal border crossing.

For my part, I don’t understand why special programs were set up to benefit newly arriving illegal border-crossers in the first place.

Alejandro N. Mayorkas, then secretary of Homeland Security,

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