New federal immigration court opens in downtown Indy

The newest federal immigration court opened in Indianapolis Monday. Located downtown at the Minton-Capehart Federal Building, the court will include seven judges.

The addition adds more judicial resources to process the backlog of more than three million cases nationwide.

For Central Indiana residents, the closest location has been Chicago forcing people to drive a few hours for their hearings. Those appointments came with time off work, travel costs and long wait times for hearings.

Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic director of immigrant services Angelin Fisher said having a location in Indianapolis helps everyone involved in the process.

“It means that obviously both clients and legal representatives will be able to use our time more effectively, instead of spending so much time driving and traveling,” Fisher said.

She said it also addresses common transportation issues that people face.

"It avoids putting clients in a situation of having to rely on transportation out of the state, or risking driving without a license,” Fisher said.

But Department of Justice accredited representative Liz Sarmiento said there have been some challenges with uncertainty for clients and legal professionals — that includes criteria to transfer cases from Chicago to Indianapolis.

“Presumably they are using zip codes of the addresses they have on file for clients, but we do not know for sure the specific zip codes that they could be using,” Sarmiento said.

Sarmiento said people with Chicago court hearings should check on the immigration court website to see if their case is transferred to Indianapolis.

Contact WFYI All Things Considered newscaster and reporter Samantha Horton at shorton@wfyi.org.