Nearly seven in 10 members of an influential deportation appeals court were named by pro-immigration former Presidents Obama and Clinton, adding to concerns of delays in the process of sending an illegal home.

According to a new report, 11 of 16 members of the Justice Department Board of Immigration Appeals were named by attorneys general working for the Democratic presidents, nine by Obama and two by Clinton. The other 5 were named by former President George W. Bush's Justice Department.



The Board oversees the backlogged immigration courts and decisions by the Department of Homeland Security, making it the ultimate appeals court. There is a vacancy on the board, prompting the Center for Immigration Studies to call on President Trump to immediately fill it and maybe even add more Republican members.

Using data from the Governmental Accountability Office, CIS said that there is a backlog of about 437,000 cases pending before immigration courts, and the average time for each is 404 days.

Under appeal, the BIA can take another 211 days to settle a case, for a total of 615 days per case that goes into appeal.

Adding more members to the Board could speed the process, said CIS expert Andrew R. Arthur. He wrote on the CIS blog:

It should also be noted that 11 of the BIA's current 16 members were appointed by attorneys general selected by Democratic presidents, while five were appointed by attorneys general selected by Republican presidents. Adding additional BIA members would give the president the opportunity to address this imbalance, as well. At a minimum, the president should appoint a 17th BIA Member.

Just as there is no perfect process for an adjudicator to follow in reaching a decision, there is no perfect number of BIA members. The president should evaluate the current number of BIA members and the board's performance, however and increase the number of members, in the interests of expediency and justice.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com