Why it matters: The rapidly growing backlog is another sign of a broken immigration system. Migrants have been waiting an average of nearly 950 days for a court decision — two-and-a-half years of living in limbo. The long wait times can also be a lure for some people considering crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. While they wait to have their case heard, they likely will be allowed to wait and work in the U.S. before any potential deportation. By the numbers: So far this fiscal year, immigration courts have taken on nearly two times as many cases as they completed, with 127,000 new cases, according to data from Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), which analyzes millions of case records.