The Trump administration is packing immigration courtrooms with "mega" master hearings, assigning hundreds of cases a day to individual judges to clear a decades-long backlog. More than 1,300 such hearings were held in June alone, nearly triple the number from the previous June, according to nonprofit Mobile Pathways. Preparation time for complex cases has dropped from about six months to just over a month, contributing to a historic rise in missed hearings and deportation orders; in June, over 100,000 immigration cases were closed, with more than 78% ending in removal orders, and a Chicago judge oversaw 185 cases in a single sitting versus a typical 20. The Justice Department says the faster pace helps resolve cases fairly while serving the public interest, though some experts warn the schedule risks denying due process.