Immigration court backlogs reach a new record-breaking high on 2014 as thousands of unaccompanied minors from Central America continue to flood the American border, further delaying the migration process.

Since October last year, over 57,000 undocumented children cross the United States' southern border sparking debates between the U.S. administration and the Congress on how to solve the border crisis.

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Both Obama and several lawmakers submitted proposals to deal with the issue. It includes adding more judges to handle immigration cases and, in some cases, eliminate the required hearings to ease the tension in the immigration system.

However, reports indicate that the immigration problem is no longer new to Americans. In 1998, pending cases reached almost 130,000, gradually increasing up to 375,000 in 2014.

According to Syracuse University, which collects and examines immigration court data, migrants have to wait over one and a half years for immigration judges decision whether to deport or allow them to stay in the country.

In other states like Arizona, immigration case backlogs reached up to more than 15,000 by the end of June, making immigrants wait even longer with an average of 656 days.

Syracuse University cited some cases in Phoenix, with almost 11,000 pending cases, that took an average of 808 days of hearing.

According to the Executive Office Director of the Justice Department Juan Osuna, there are 59-immigration courts throughout the U.S. with 243 judges assigned to handle immigration cases, each with an average of 1,250 cases per year. Among them, 100-immigration judges are eligible for retirement this year.

Making matters worse, the Department of Homeland Security expanded the kinds of crimes considered as grounds for immigrant deportation, an ABA report indicated.

Despite encouragement from the ABA in 2010 and recent bipartisan proposal to hire more judges, House leaders still refuse to cast a vote to bring immigration reform.

TagsCentral America, Congress, President Barack Obama