Immigration Courts Experience Technical Problems

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) experienced a massive “crash” of its computer systems in April 2014. The EOIR announced, however, that it has been able to recover all of the data, and that portions of its system are once again operational.

EOIR Computer Systems Crash, USCIS Not Affected

The EOIR is part of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and is the government entity that includes the U.S. immigration court system. The EOIR experienced what it described as “…a catastrophic hardware failure…” This crash, which occurred on April 12, 2014, essentially froze the computer systems on which the immigration courts rely. This led to delays, in addition to concerns regarding the future of the cases pending before these courts. It should be noted that the computer systems of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services have not been impacted by the EOIR’s computer problems.

Systems Being Restored, Data Recovered

On May 19th, the EOIR acknowledged that it is still in the process of finalizing the restoration of its most critical applications. The EOIR was pleased to report, however, that all of the data that was lost following the crash has been recovered, and the systems have been reconstructed in a manner that should help prevent an event of this type from occurring again.

Electronic Database, Case Information Hotline Functional, but Being Updated

The EOIR notes that its electronic databases are functional, as is the corresponding hotline (800-898-7180) that provides the public with case information. The databases are still in the process of being updated, though, and because the hotline is only able to provide information contained in those databases, the hotline information may not yet be completely current. The EOIR promises to continue working on this problem until all of the case information is up to date.

Conclusion

While the EOIR experienced a serious technical failure, it is reassuring to know that no data was lost. Still, the impact of this technical failure is likely to be far-reaching, given the already backlogged and overwhelmed immigration court system. MurthyDotCom will continue to track this story and post updates, if new information becomes available.

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