We have a problem with our immigration courts. This problem isn't a result of our current ideological divide - though that doesn't help us solve it. Rather, this is a problem of coordination or lack thereof.
Coordination is a required management function so that you don’t fix one problem and create 100 more through lack of understanding that comes with lack of coordination. It is the job of management to make sure that fixes - don't cause cascading problems. Ignoring those cascading problems is a failure of management.
So ... what lessons can we learn from this? First - the article that made me upset. It's titled: Fake court dates are being issued in immigration court. Here’s why
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article234396892.html?fbclid=IwAR0SIrFlqWEMdUkRLaSLEsRqagFyfquvcabSybVn_p_kthRErF2C7J1WURc
Now - before you get your partisan hackles in a tither from the headline without reading the text - let me say - BOTH sides really are to blame for this and unless we understand what is causing the problem - we can't fix it! Consider this a lesson in humanistic problem solving. Research root causes before jumping to conclusions.
The problem is - the agencies that send the notices, don't have the ability to set up court dates.
In order to comply with the court order, the issuing agency puts in fake dates so that the notice - includes a date and thus - complies with the court order. Problem solved? Right? Obviously - no.
The dates on the notices - are not transmitted to the courts, meaning - the courts have no idea that a notice to appear has been sent to someone denied residence and they don't know that the person denied residence has been ordered to appear on a certain date. And, even if they were aware of this, the dates on the notice to appear sent by the agency that denied residence, are often for dates that don't exist - like Nov 31st.
Putting fake dates on a notice to appear for denied residence - may make sense to the issuing agency that has to issue these notices and still comply with the law that there be a date, but this "fix" causes all sorts of problems elsewhere in the bureaucracy.
Here is what happens to people who receive these notices to appear. Even if you receive a fake date, you still have to physically appear in court, because ... it's a notice to appear. And if you don't appear - you are breaking the law. You have to appear on that date - whether the date exists or not.
The result in the actual courts is - lots of people show up at the courts that don't need to be there. This mass of extra people clogs the lines to get in and processed. This causes problems for the clerks doing the processing - because they are processing people who aren't in their system trying to figure out why they have a notice to appear that isn't really real. This is time wasted by the clerks sorting out people that shouldn't even be at the court house. It causes financial hardship to the people who appeared when they weren't supposed to because- they have to take time off work, travel etc to be at these courts that are often located in remote areas. And ... it causes real problems for the people who are supposed to be there (who have real dates) who now can't get into the court room they were ordered to appear at - because because there isn't room in the actual room because the room is clogged with people who aren't supposed to be there but who were ordered to appear. The people who can't get in who are really supposed to be there - do get deported for not appearing - even though they were at the court house - but couldn't get into the room because of the extra people there - who received court dates that were fake.
The incompetence of all of this is staggering but unsurprising. There are several breakdowns in the process. And blame is spread around. There is a lack of coordination in the decision making process. There was orders to process more people, but not enough resources allocated to - actually process them. The people who decided how to comply with the court order to include dates - clear did not talk to anyone who would be impacted by their solution to know that their solution - was just going to cause even more problems and hardship - for everyone.
What ideally should happen is that - the denied residence notices - should be held and not sent out - until a court date is set. But to do that - requires different agencies working together to make that happen.
The people sending out the notices - are being judged by what they are getting done. Management by numbers, is not a good way to manage or make decisions, because - it blinds us to the real life impact of our decisions.
Lesson? Don't make decisions in a vacuum. Bring in a diverse team that represents all aspects of the process - and come up with a process that a) complies with the law and b) will work for everyone!
And no - this isn't too much to ask of Government. I work with government employees all the time. They are well meaning, intelligent people. This is no different from any other organization. Smart organizations make team decisions. Our government can and should too. All organizations should coordinate their work. No more siloing.
Coordination is a required management function so that you don’t fix one problem and create 100 more through lack of understanding that comes with lack of coordination. It is the job of management to make sure that fixes - don't cause cascading problems. Ignoring those cascading problems is a failure of management.
So ... what lessons can we learn from this? First - the article that made me upset. It's titled: Fake court dates are being issued in immigration court. Here’s why
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article234396892.html?fbclid=IwAR0SIrFlqWEMdUkRLaSLEsRqagFyfquvcabSybVn_p_kthRErF2C7J1WURc
Now - before you get your partisan hackles in a tither from the headline without reading the text - let me say - BOTH sides really are to blame for this and unless we understand what is causing the problem - we can't fix it! Consider this a lesson in humanistic problem solving. Research root causes before jumping to conclusions.
The gist of the problem:
The notice saying you've been denied residence - used to not include court dates. But the agency that issues the notices, was ordered by the US Supreme court to include dates in the notices.The problem is - the agencies that send the notices, don't have the ability to set up court dates.
In order to comply with the court order, the issuing agency puts in fake dates so that the notice - includes a date and thus - complies with the court order. Problem solved? Right? Obviously - no.
The dates on the notices - are not transmitted to the courts, meaning - the courts have no idea that a notice to appear has been sent to someone denied residence and they don't know that the person denied residence has been ordered to appear on a certain date. And, even if they were aware of this, the dates on the notice to appear sent by the agency that denied residence, are often for dates that don't exist - like Nov 31st.
Putting fake dates on a notice to appear for denied residence - may make sense to the issuing agency that has to issue these notices and still comply with the law that there be a date, but this "fix" causes all sorts of problems elsewhere in the bureaucracy.
Here is what happens to people who receive these notices to appear. Even if you receive a fake date, you still have to physically appear in court, because ... it's a notice to appear. And if you don't appear - you are breaking the law. You have to appear on that date - whether the date exists or not.
The result in the actual courts is - lots of people show up at the courts that don't need to be there. This mass of extra people clogs the lines to get in and processed. This causes problems for the clerks doing the processing - because they are processing people who aren't in their system trying to figure out why they have a notice to appear that isn't really real. This is time wasted by the clerks sorting out people that shouldn't even be at the court house. It causes financial hardship to the people who appeared when they weren't supposed to because- they have to take time off work, travel etc to be at these courts that are often located in remote areas. And ... it causes real problems for the people who are supposed to be there (who have real dates) who now can't get into the court room they were ordered to appear at - because because there isn't room in the actual room because the room is clogged with people who aren't supposed to be there but who were ordered to appear. The people who can't get in who are really supposed to be there - do get deported for not appearing - even though they were at the court house - but couldn't get into the room because of the extra people there - who received court dates that were fake.
The incompetence of all of this is staggering but unsurprising. There are several breakdowns in the process. And blame is spread around. There is a lack of coordination in the decision making process. There was orders to process more people, but not enough resources allocated to - actually process them. The people who decided how to comply with the court order to include dates - clear did not talk to anyone who would be impacted by their solution to know that their solution - was just going to cause even more problems and hardship - for everyone.
What ideally should happen is that - the denied residence notices - should be held and not sent out - until a court date is set. But to do that - requires different agencies working together to make that happen.
The people sending out the notices - are being judged by what they are getting done. Management by numbers, is not a good way to manage or make decisions, because - it blinds us to the real life impact of our decisions.
Lesson? Don't make decisions in a vacuum. Bring in a diverse team that represents all aspects of the process - and come up with a process that a) complies with the law and b) will work for everyone!
And no - this isn't too much to ask of Government. I work with government employees all the time. They are well meaning, intelligent people. This is no different from any other organization. Smart organizations make team decisions. Our government can and should too. All organizations should coordinate their work. No more siloing.
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