Immigration Courts, Broadly Criticized, Get Congress Scrutiny

House lawmakers are poised to review the U.S. immigration court system this week amid staggering case delays and complaints about political meddling.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship meets Thursday for a hearing on the independence of the system, which handles asylum claims, deportations, and other enforcement issues. The Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review oversees the network that spans dozens of courts and hundreds of immigration judges across the country.

Years-long case backlogs are only getting worse, and critics say the courts have been mismanaged and sometimes politicized. During President Donald Trump’s administration, for example, Democrats ...