'An Irony': Shutdown Fight Over Border Security Takes Toll On Immigration Enforcement

"We've never been in a situation that is so dire with regard to the backlog of immigration cases nationwide," immigration Judge Dana Leigh Marks told NPR's All Things Considered. Marks is former president of the National Association of Immigration Judges and one of many judges who have been furloughed during the shutdown.

"When we have to shut down, those cases are delayed, sometimes for years, before we have space on our dockets to be able to reschedule them," said Marks.