Hartford — It’s a typical Tuesday afternoon in the federal immigration court in Hartford, where a group of mostly Spanish-speaking families gather in a sixth-floor lobby waiting to be let into the courtroom.

Inside, Judge Ted Doolittle presides over an unusual case.

He watches a screen where a sign-language interpreter is conversing via video feed with a Brazilian national seated in court. The man has a case pending having crossed into the U.S. at the southern border more than a year ago without proper documentation. He has yet to file paperwork claiming asylum even though it's required within one year of entering the U.S. The case has long been pending because the court has apparently had difficulty finding an interpreter to help out.

Doolittle reads off a litany of warnings to the man that he will repeat for others on this day about the possibility of being removed from the U.S. if he misses future court dates or fails to verify his address. The man is sent on his way with a new court date of July 27, 2026.

Others among the next dozen cases heard on Tuesday will also be given continuance dates a year or more out, a consequence of the sheer number of cases moving through the court these days. The massive backlog of immigration cases nationally has topped 3.5 million and and more than 42,000 here in Connecticut as of the end of May, according to research group Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. In Connecticut, records show the backlog of immigration cases has grown from 5,222 cases in 2018 to 46,000 last year, TRAC data shows.

Attorney Marcy Levine-Acevedo, of the New-London based firm Levine Law LLC, said she is intimately familiar with the long delays between court appearances due to the surge in the number of migrants seeking asylum over the past several years.

She attributes the increase to the Biden administration’s more lenient policies on allowing migrants into the country, coupled with deteriorating conditions in some South American and Central American countries. The number of border crossings has dropped dramatically under the Trump administration, which the government has attributed to more aggressive deportation efforts.

“More and more people were coming to us who had been apprehended at the southern border. I started taking more of these cases,” Levine-Acevedo said.

In fact, Levine-Acevedo said, she shifted her practice and now almost exclusively handles immigration-related cases. Like her clients, most of the people showing up at immigration court in Connecticut are coming from countries such as Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Guatemala, Colombia and Haiti.

“When you have people coming in desperate for help, you worry if you send them away there's the risk for these notarios to come in and help them and they end up in a much worse situation," Levine-Acevedo said.

"Notarios" is a general term for someone, often without a legal background, accepting money and exploiting migrants seeking legal help with immigration issues. Judge Doolittle warned the people in court on Tuesday that "some people will take your money and do no work. Be careful of anybody you have not met in person."

Some of the backlog in immigration courts may also be attributed to COVID-era delays, Levine-Acevedo said, but is more likely a manpower issue. Connecticut's immigration court has just two full-time and one part-time immigration judge to handle cases that often take years to resolve, she said.

“Most of the people I represent came over the southern border between 2014 and 2024. I haven't seen many recent arrivals," said said, "likely because of the more hardline stance of Trump on immigration."

A scary place

The people in court on Tuesday all received a Notice to Appear issued by the Department of Homeland Security that initiates a civil court proceeding. They likely were stopped at the border and released with a promise to appear in the future at an immigration court in the state where they planned to live. The Hartford Immigration Court falls under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, which is a component of the Executive Office for Immigration Review under the Department of Justice, according to the court's website.

The individuals with court dates could be subject to removal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, especially the ones who do not show up to court and given an "in absentia" removal order. Some may also get expedited removal orders if the government finds someone did not have proper documents when they entered the U.S. or misrepresented themselves in some way.

Levine-Acevedo said it is unclear to her why certain groups are being targeted by ICE but thinks people who are arrested are easy targets. Others are in the wrong place at the wrong time, grabbed by ICE agents who are looking for someone else.

One woman in court on Tuesday, who declined to give her name, shook her head “no” when asked if she was nervous about her impending court appearance. She makes the sign of the cross, however, before walking into the courtroom.

She was among the 15 people who took seats in some of the courtroom's four rows of wooden benches, many clutching binders containing evidence they plan to eventually use as they seek asylum and a permanent home in the U.S. Several families with young children were in attendance. Two elementary school-aged boys stacked crayons and looked over the superhero coloring books left on the seats to keep them busy.

The immigration court is a scary place for these people, said Ramiro Alcazar, a Meriden-based attorney who handles many immigration-related issues.

“They're terrified. Many don't speak the language. They've moved here from a third-world country and now thrust in the middle of something they don't understand. You'll see a lot of indigent, really poor people. They came here looking for a better life. They have nothing," he said. "My heart bleeds for them."

None of the people in attendance on Tuesday had hired a lawyer yet. Statistics show a large percentage of people will go through the process without legal representation, which is not mandated, and an attorney is not provided by the courts. Judge Doolittle makes it clear that those with good attorneys are more likely to have better outcomes. He offers anyone who wants one a list of low-cost attorneys from the areas where they are living.

“Sadly, it's wild out there right now because there's a need and right now not a lot of experienced attorneys,” Alcazar said. “Most do not initially have representation because they can't afford it."

On Tuesday, Doolittle called on those people with young children first. One woman with a toddler in tow said she inquired about the cost of hiring an attorney and said she has not been able to work while taking care of her child. She brought with her evidence, she said, of what happened to her in her home country.

Another woman, a young son by her side at the table in front of the judge, who has been in the country since April 20, 2021, was assigned a trial date. She was told to gather photos, medical records, letters and anything else she thinks will help her case at the future hearing. She breaks down in tears and explains she’s been legally working with a work permit but taking care of her mother, who has cancer.

“I’m her sole support,” she said through a Spanish interpreter.

Doolittle told the woman she will get a notice in the mail about the date for the hearing. Based on others who were assigned dates in 2027, Doolittle said, “I’m guessing it’s going to be a way out.”

One woman said she's been quoted $9,000 to $11,000 for legal representation and told Doolittle, “I don't have that kind of money.”

“I do need an attorney because returning to my home country would literally be looking for my own death,” one woman told the judge through a Spanish interpreter.

Levine-Acevedo said affording an attorney, even for those earning decent wages, is tough. Many of these migrants are getting paid under the table to clean houses, do landscaping or work in restaurants. The money might go to pay off the "coyotes" — the smugglers who helped get them into the U.S. Others are supporting families, sending money back home to other relatives while they share an apartment with other people trying to do the same.

The fear of returning to their home countries is real, Levine-Acevedo said.

A majority of her cases involve gang extortion from countries where government officials and law enforcement are often paid off and gangs collect money from regular folks. People are threatened with death if they do not pay regular fees to the local gangs.

"Thousands of people have been murdered in these countries because they have not paid these extortion wages," Levine-Acevedo said.

Part of her job is to help collect evidence that will help prove an asylum case. Valid legal reasons for seeking asylum include fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. In one case she is handling, Levine-Acevedo said, she obtained a voice mail from one client who was threatened that when they return to Ecuador they will "have their heads cut off."

Members of Congress, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., signed a letter in March to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi expressing concern over the lack of immigration judges.

"We write with great concern regarding the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s (EOIR) decision to fire numerous immigration judges as the immigration courts face a staggering backlog of cases and a likely influx of new cases pursuant to President Trump’s mass-deportation agenda," the letter reads.

In the meantime, Levine-Acevedo said, the long waits will only serve to heighten the concern and fear for migrants with an uncertain future.

g.smith@theday.com