Miami-Dade County Leads U.S. With Most Pending Deportation Cases at Miami Immigration Court

Miami-Dade County had 137,373 pending deportation cases at the Miami Immigration Court as of July 27, 2026, the highest total reported for any U.S. immigration court. The cases remain unresolved and do not themselves represent final removal orders.

A separate report citing federal data described the South Florida docket as “cerca de 140.000.” That figure broadly matches the 137,373-case count.

Florida judges are also issuing removal orders at a faster pace. They issued 5,415 orders in June 2026, up from 4,605 in March, according to federal data cited in recent reports.

The June figures show the pressure on the system. 78% of Florida’s immigration court cases resulted in removal orders that month, while formal expulsions rose 18%.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the local effects reach into family care and essential work.

“Washington loves to debate immigration in the abstract. Miami has to live with it in the concrete. In Miami-Dade, it’s who’s taking care of your grandmother. and helping build your house.”

Levine Cava made the statement on July 23.

Florida is moving cases faster while few respondents have lawyers

Only 21.5% of people had an attorney present when removal orders were issued in June, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC. Many respondents therefore faced a final order without counsel present.

The courts also accelerated “master calendar hearings” in June. Lawyers said the faster schedule left many people “extremely anxious” because they had less time to find legal representation.

A master calendar hearing does not resolve every claim in a case. The next steps can depend on the allegations, applications, deadlines and scheduling orders involved.

Immigration proceedings often turn on detailed facts and strict deadlines. People with pending cases should consider advice from a qualified immigration attorney.

The court operates under the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Its facility is at One Riverview Square, 333 S. Miami Avenue, Suite 700, Miami, FL 33130. Public hours run from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

EOIR’s automated case information line is 1-800-898-7180. The court lists Miami.Immigration.Court@usdoj.gov as its contact email.

South Florida carries a large share of a record national docket

The national immigration court backlog reached 3.19 million cases at the end of June 2026, according to TRAC’s June quick facts. The Miami court handles approximately 10% of the entire U.S. immigration docket as of mid-2026.

The regional caseload reflects an influx of asylum seekers, primarily from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua, alongside a shortage of judges. More than half of Miami-Dade’s population is foreign-born.

That population profile places immigration proceedings close to ordinary household and workplace life. Americans for Immigrant Justice said arbitrary deportations had left thousands of U.S. citizens without mothers, fathers and siblings.

Local business leaders and Levine Cava also warned that removing Temporary Protected Status holders could create a “labor shortage” in healthcare, construction and hospitality. Levine Cava raised the concern at a July 29 news conference.

The docket’s size therefore sits alongside broader decisions about detention, protected status and court capacity. Those decisions can affect people before a judge resolves an individual case.

Detention policy and TPS decisions add pressure outside courtrooms

Florida ranked fifth nationally for active immigration detentions, with 3,934 people held in long-term facilities as of July 30.

The state also closed a major detention site. Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the closure of the South Florida Detention Facility on June 25, 2026. The facility, nicknamed “Alligator Alcatraz,” operated at the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport.

DeSantis defended the site’s record before its closure.

“Alligator Alcatraz fulfilled the role that it was designed to serve. It has helped remove many, many dangerous people from the street and get them out of not only the state of Florida, but the United States of America.”

Operating the site for one year carried an estimated cost of $1.2 billion. Levine Cava has proposed transferring the land to the National Park Service for Everglades restoration.

Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, took the opposite view. She called the facility an “Everglades internment camp” and a “cynical political stunt,” and said, “Republicans squandered more than $1 billion in taxpayer dollars.”

Maria Asuncion Bilbao, Florida campaign coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee, described the wider effect of detention fears.

“theatricalization of cruelty”

Bilbao said families were “terrified to engage in everyday life—including sending children to school” because they feared sudden federal detention.

A separate federal development also affects South Florida’s immigration population. A June 2026 Supreme Court decision cleared the way for ending Temporary Protected Status for citizens of Haiti and Syria, potentially affecting an estimated 158,000 South Florida residents.

Levine Cava criticized the decision in June.

“Today’s Supreme Court decision allowing the termination of TPS for Haitians and Syrians is a direct affront to the safety and well-being of hundreds of thousands of people, including many members of Miami-Dade County’s vibrant Haitian community.”

The pending docket and the enforcement decisions operate on different tracks. Together, they place more demands on people seeking hearings, legal representation and time to prepare their cases.

Respondents can use EOIR’s automated case information line, 1-800-898-7180, to check case information. The agency’s court contact page also identifies the Miami court’s public hours and email address.

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Consult a qualified immigration attorney about your specific case.