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A long-awaited federal immigration court is poised to open next week in Indianapolis, making it the first court of its kind to operate in the state.
A Jan. 7 notice posted by the U.S. Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review announced the court would be opening Monday “to meet the growing needs of our Indiana stakeholders.”
Tanya Schusler, a spokesperson with the U.S. General Services Administration’s Great Lakes region (which includes Indiana), could not be immediately reached by phone or email to confirm whether the Indianapolis immigration court will open Monday as announced, given the presidential transition to Donald Trump from Joe Biden on Jan. 20.
But several immigration attorneys within the state have confirmed to Indiana Lawyer they were aware of the court’s opening.
It is slated to have seven immigration judges and be located in the Minton-Capehart Federal Building at 575 N. Pennsylvania St., Suite 617.
Previous plans announced in June 2023 called for the the immigration court to open in Indianapolis by summer 2024.
“We expect to have seven courtrooms and about 40 employees at the facility, including immigration judges and other court staff,” the immigration review office announced at the time. “The Indianapolis Immigration Court will be located in the Minton-Capehart Federal Building, an existing federal building. Additional details on the timeline, hiring plans, or caseload are not available at this time.”
Up until now, all Indiana immigration cases have been handled by the Chicago immigration court.
The Indianapolis court’s opening would come at a time when the nation’s overall immigration case backlog stands at more than 3.7 million pending cases, and President Trump is taking swift action to shut down illegal immigration.
As of October, there were more than 72,000 pending immigration cases in Indiana based on the immigrant’s address, the Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reported.
Project 2025, a controversial 900-plus page document written by the Heritage Foundation and more than 100 other conservative groups, offers a potential blueprint on immigration enforcement goals during a second Trump term. It calls for more U.S. immigration courts.
The new Indianapolis court’s hours of operation, according to the DOJ, will be 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
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