How the Trump administration pushed to reopen immigration cases, putting thousands at risk of deportation

An NBC News analysis found that the Trump administration has filed more than 117,000 requests to reopen cases immigration judges had deemed low priority.

More than 117,000 immigrants — at least half of whom have lived in the country a decade or more — face potential deportation after the Trump administration pushed to reopen cases previously paused by an immigration judge, an NBC News analysis shows.

Most of those requests to reopen, also known as “re-calendaring” cases, were filed in Arizona, California, Florida and New York.

In California, more than 30,000 cases were moved to be re-calendared, a 14,000% increase from the start of the Trump administration’s second term in January to October as compared to the same period in the last year of Joe Biden’s term.

For decades, immigration judges have administratively closed cases, removing them from their court calendar without dismissing or completely closing them.

Administrative closure helps judges manage court dockets and backlogs, Carmen Maria Rey Caldas, a former immigration judge, told NBC News. Judges may administratively close a case to give time for people who may be eligible for deportation relief — such as through asylum or a green card — to work through the frequently lengthy processes. Often the immigrants are considered low priorities for deportation because they have not committed serious crimes at the time, aren’t a homeland or public safety threat or have families or other ties to the U.S.