7 minutes

According to estimates, there are 11.7 million undocumented immigrants in the United States with at least 50,000 trying to enter the country each month. U.S. employs 21,000 border patrol agents, spends $18 billion on these employees annually, and deports around 1,000 people from the country every day. While the nation has increased spending on immigration enforcement by 300% since 2002, it has only increased its spending for immigration courts (specifically the Executive Office for Immigration Review) by 70% during that time. As a result, cases have piled-up and courts are overwhelmed. Since March 2014, these courts have suffered from a backlog of over 367,000 cases with an average wait time of 578 days.  

Trials for undocumented immigrants are unlike criminal proceedings in that the individual "on trial" is not guaranteed legal representation. About 40% of those in immigration court are representing themselves, and are much more likely to be ruled against than those with an attorney. 


(http://weaselzippers.us/194332-texas-18-out-of-20-illegal-immigrant-minors-skip-their-immigration-court-hearings-on-tuesday/)

For most--regardless of whether or not they are represented by an attorney--court proceedings are unbelievably brief. A recent Washington Post article profiled a family's experience attending their father's immigration trial in which the judge spent only about 7 minutes per case. 

Here are some things that will take more than 7 minutes to complete.

Putting on smoky eye make up,



cleaning your shower or bathtub



drying your hair,



or putting icing on a cake

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