Hundreds of people formed a line that wrapped around the block in front of the Miami Immigration Court this past Monday, under the intense Florida sun, on a day that activists and lawyers termed chaotic and that was documented on social media.
“Thirteen judges and hundreds of cases in hearings today. An absolute chaos with lines wrapping around the block all day, people waiting under the intense Florida sun for hours. The chaos of our immigration system under Trump”, described the scene Thomas Kennedy, activist from the Florida Immigrant Coalition, on X.
Kennedy attached three photos that showed a line stretching for several blocks around the Immigration Court.
The influencer JC Frias also shared images and a video on Instagram.
Why did the court overflow?
The collapse is due to several factors converging at the same time.
The Miami court has accumulated 137,373 pending cases —the highest number among all immigration courts in the country— within a national total that exceeds 3.19 million active files.
This is joined by the "mega hearings" model or master calendar hearings, where a single judge manages up to 100 cases in one session. "That's 100 hearings, 100 people per hearing, per judge," explained attorney Isadora Velázquez in an interview with Univision.
Another trigger is the massive advancement of dates: cases scheduled between 2028 and 2030 have been reassigned to the period between September and November 2026 following the announcement of 77 new judges by the EOIR last May.
The notice period for appearing decreased from an average of 158 days in April to just 42 days in June.
The elimination of video hearings
A decisive change exacerbates the saturation: starting September 8, the courts will be strictly in-person, eliminating the option to appear via video call that has been available since the pandemic.
"Until now, judges have allowed individuals to appear via video except for a few exceptions. Well, that has come to an end," stated lawyer Liudmila Marcelo, who explained the details of this change in a recent interview with CiberCuba.
"That's a significant change. That's why so many people are registering in the Courts," Marcelo commented.
The lawyer described in the first person the overcrowding: on Wednesday, August 19, she arrived at 7:30 in the morning for a hearing at 8:30, and the multi-story parking lot was already full, with the line extending to a nearby hotel.
A judge confirmed to him that the courtroom "was filled with people, there was hardly any room left."
What should those with pending hearings do?
Lawyers are unanimous: one must appear regardless of the circumstances, as the line is not a valid excuse before the judge.
Lawyers warn that those who do not arrive on time for their hearing will receive a deportation order in their absence, and the excuse of waiting in line will not be considered a justification.
Marcelo recommends arriving at 6:00 in the morning if you have an immigration hearing: "If your hearing is at 8 or 8:30 in the morning, don't expect to be there at 7:30. You should plan to arrive at 6 or 6:30 in the morning."
The impact on Cubans
For the Cuban community, the consequences are particularly severe. In June, over 1,600 deportation orders were issued against Cubans, and 68% of these were issued for individuals who failed to appear for their hearing, according to data from the TRAC system.
Marcelo warned that the expedited advancement of court hearings could be a deliberate strategy to deport as many individuals with an I-220A form as possible before legal changes become favorable to them.
A piece of information that offers some relief: since June 23, a decision by a federal judge in California has annulled nationwide the policies that authorized civil immigration arrests in the courts, effectively nullifying the court arrest policy implemented by the Trump administration in 2025.
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