Texas Immigration Backlog: Omar's Story

0:00Texas is facing a massive backlog in immigration cases with too few judges to handle the load. Nearly 19,000 ICE detainees are stuck there. The highest number in any state out of 68,000 nationwide. This shortage means hearings drag on, keeping folks locked up way longer than necessary. Plains full of detainees keep landing quietly at Dallas Lovefield as enforcement ramps up. Attorneys point out it's hitting Texans hard through traffic stops on undocumented drivers, not big raids. That's how cases like Omar Salazar's kicked off a simple lane-change pullover in Lubbock led straight to ICE custody. Omar, brought here from Mexico at age 11, graduated from Southern Methodist University and works in Artificial Intelligence with no criminal. Record. He's been detained seven months at a facility with rough conditions, overcrowding, and spotty medical care. Still, he's stepping up, translating for guards and other detainees, even marrying his U.S. citizen wife inside the center.

1:01His case has bounced through three judges already, final hearing back in February, but no ruling yet. Attorneys say the courts are swamped, judges overworked from the surge in detentions. Meanwhile, families like Omar's wife, now in her first year of law school, faced tough choices, wondering if they'll have to uproot everything. With planes still flying in and cases stacking higher, these backlogs show the real strain on lives caught in the system. That's your Dallas News Today update. AI powered and always on.