Steve Inskeep

They also deleted some files that had previously been released and then brought them back.

What's going on?

There was a legal deadline passed by Congress almost unanimously.

NPR's Luke Garrett, thanks so much.

Thousands of immigrants without legal status have been no-shows in immigration court this year.

NPR immigration policy reporter Ximena Bastillo and data reporter Rahul Mukherjee calculated just how many times people are not showing up for these appointments.

And Ximena is the one who gets to come here early in the morning to talk about this face-to-face.

Ximena, good morning.

What is going on here?

Okay.

And when you looked at these in absentia removals, what did you find?

This is really interesting because in the past, people generally have showed up for these hearings.

So what happened in June?

Okay, what does that tell you about the whole idea of due process of law for people who may claim they have some right to be here?

Yeah, when you say less than a 1% chance of being arrested when you're in court, that's not the impression people get from media reports.

You hear about these dramatic arrests and confrontations in courtrooms.

NPR's Amanda Bastillo, thanks so much.

Thank you.

And that's a first for this Monday, December 22nd.

I'm Steve Inskeep.