At Concord's immigration court — now the largest on the West Coast after San Francisco's court closed — the Justice Department packed dozens of people into single "mega master" hearings while in absentia removal orders climbed and grants of relief collapsed, The San Francisco Standard reported.

Why it matters:

  • The court at 1855 Gateway Blvd. holds more than 170,000 pending cases, the fifth-largest immigration court caseload in the country.
  • Observers say many people whose hearings were suddenly advanced never got notice, then were ordered removed when they did not appear.
  • San Francisco civil rights lawyers sued EOIR on Oct. 16 for refusing to release records about the practice.

What court observers documented

From June through September, mega masters in Concord averaged 75 to 87 respondents, usually split between two time slots, volunteer observers told The Standard. In August, the failure-to-appear rate at those hearings peaked near 63%. Between November and August, about 89% of people who failed to appear were ordered removed in absentia, observers said.

An Executive Office for Immigration Review spokesperson told The Standard the agency is speeding schedules because "unnecessary delay hurts both aliens with meritorious claims and the American public who wish to see aliens with non-meritorious claims removed as quickly as possible."

Relief grant rates for people who appeared with applications fell from 30% in 2024 to 20% in 2025 to 2.6% in the first eight months of 2026, according to Immigration Court Insights data cited by The Standard. August removal orders topped 2,000, an all-time high for Concord.

The FOIA lawsuit

On Oct. 16, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and the National Immigration Project sued DOJ and EOIR in Northern District of California, saying the agencies ignored a July FOIA request for policies, scheduling data and in absentia orders from mega master dockets.

"EOIR is playing a dangerous game with people's lives," staff attorney Jacob Gonzalez said. "They are rushing thousands of immigrants through mass hearings, moving up court dates with little or no notice, and then ordering people deported in absentia when they don't show up."

Related: SFUSD staff accompanying families to ICE check-ins.