The Associated Press

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6469482.html

A national advocacy group recommended Wednesday improving the country's beleaguered immigration court system by reforming how judges are selected and promoting impartiality.

A study by Appleseed, a non-profit that works to reform the justice system, also suggested improving the accuracy of translations, reducing use of videoconferencing for hearings and ensuring court representation for immigrants.

The group conducted more than 100 interviews around the country with attorneys, immigration judges, nonprofits, academics and leaders of professional organizations. Court observers also logged in more than 100 hours at immigration court hearings in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. Attorneys and staff from Chicago, New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Houston compiled the information from last year to this year.

Appleseed found the dramatic rise in cases before immigration courts over the past decade without a corresponding increase in resources, has led to many of the problems, from a lack of impartiality among some judges and government attorneys to inadequate staffing and access to court records.

A spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a Department of Justice agency that oversees immigration courts, was not immediately available for comment on Wedensday.

Among the study's recommendations: ensuring the hiring process for immigration judges and members of the Board of Immigration Appeals has been fully de-politicized; expanding judges' authority to sanction attorneys representing the government; design appropriate ways to discipline judges for violations. Appleseed said A DOJ report detailed a systematic campaign by the previous administration to pack the immigration courts with Republicans who were "completely on the team."

For Department of Homeland security attorneys, Appleseed suggested encouraging more prosecutorial discretion and reminding them "their mission is to enforce the law as written, not to deport every immigrant."