Inside NYC's 'Mega Master' Immigration Court Hearings

What is a 'mega master' immigration court hearing?

Since the beginning of June 2026, immigration courts in New York City have started holding what lawyers call "mega master" hearings. A master calendar hearing is an initial court appearance where you respond to the government's allegations against you — and where a judge may decide if you qualify for protection like asylum. But the new mega master version packs dozens — sometimes over a hundred — people into a single day's docket. The goal, according to the Executive Office of Immigration Review (the federal office that runs immigration courts), is to speed up the backlog of cases. Critics say the real goal is to push people toward deportation orders faster.

On June 9, 2026, a reporter witnessed one of these hearings at New York's Broadway Immigration Court (290 Broadway, Lower Manhattan). Judge ShaSha Xu's courtroom that day had roughly 40 people without lawyers — nearly twice the number who had legal representation. About 16 people did not show up at all. Under immigration law, if you miss your hearing, a judge can order you deported in your absence. That is called an in-absentia removal order, and those orders have already hit their highest numbers in a decade, partly because immigrants are afraid to go to courthouses.

Hearings moved up with little warning — and the chaos that followed

Many people at the June 9 hearing had received notice just one week before that their court date had been moved up by several months. One man, a Haitian home health aide named Jurando, had been told in November 2025 that he had until October 2026 to return to court. Then, earlier this month, a neighbor sent him a photo of a letter: his date had been moved up four months, and he had one week to get to New York City. "It's very stressful," Jurando said. "I had until October." Finding a lawyer, scheduling an appointment, and paying for one in that short time was nearly impossible, he said. He waited nearly eight hours at the courthouse — only to be sent home when all Haitian Creole interpreters dropped off the call. His case was reset to the following week.

The hearing also revealed how a new Trump administration policy is putting asylum seekers (people asking the US government for protection) at extra risk. Judges are now advised to automatically dismiss asylum applications (the formal request for protection from deportation) that have even minor mistakes or missing information. Judge Xu repeatedly warned people in the courtroom that an incomplete application would mean automatic dismissal and a move toward deportation. Several families representing themselves were given as little as one month to fix and resubmit their applications — even though immigration experts say asylum applications typically take weeks or months to prepare correctly.

What to do

• Check your court date right now. Go to the EOIR (Executive Office of Immigration Review) website and look up your case. Mega master hearings are being scheduled with very little notice. Do not wait for a letter — check online regularly.
• Update your address immediately. If you have moved, you must file a change of address with the immigration court within one week of moving. If the court sends a notice to your old address and you miss the hearing, you can be ordered deported.
• Do not miss your hearing, no matter what. Missing an immigration court hearing — even by accident — can result in an automatic deportation order. If you cannot make it, lawyers recommend contacting the court or your attorney as soon as possible before the date.
• Get help with your asylum application before your deadline. If a judge has given you a short deadline to fix or submit your asylum application, contact a nonprofit immigration legal organization immediately. Do not wait. An incomplete application can be dismissed automatically under current policy.