The Justice Department has accelerated the closure of San Francisco's main immigration courthouse at 100 Montgomery St., displacing more than 100,000 pending cases and reducing the city's immigration bench from 21 judges to two. The closure sends most cases across the Bay to the Concord Immigration Court, roughly an hour away by car, while about 17,000 cases will remain at a smaller San Francisco location with just two operating courtrooms.
The courthouse's lease was not renewed, citing cost savings as the reason for the move. The Trump administration has also terminated more than 130 immigration judges nationally, and many others have resigned or retired. The Concord court, which was designed to house 21 judges, now operates with four, not counting the supervisor. Cases currently scheduled for San Francisco are expected to be heard at Concord starting in December.
What the Right Is Saying
The DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review cited cost savings as the reason for closing the Montgomery Street courthouse and consolidating cases in Concord. Spokesperson Kathryn Mattingly said relocating court operations would be "more cost effective" and that reducing the immigration court backlog remains a priority for the agency.
Mattingly emphasized that any immigration judge can hear any case at any time throughout the country to assist with caseloads. "Cases will be timely adjudicated either at the Concord Immigration Court or remotely," she said in a statement, adding that EOIR has hired record numbers of new immigration judges, including a class of more than 80 people in May.
The DOJ did not respond to requests for comment about concerns that the closure relates to San Francisco's track record of asylum approvals. The agency maintained that scheduling adjustments will ensure all cases are handled "in a timely and lawful manner."
What the Left Is Saying
Professor Bill Hing, a law and migration studies professor at the University of San Francisco, said the closure signals that progressive cases coming out of San Francisco are set to end. "It's part of the message that the Trump administration is sending, that they're not open to asylum seekers," Hing said. "And one way of doing that is closing the court that has been very generous to asylum seekers."
Immigration attorney Ghassan Shamieh, who has hundreds of cases pending at the closing courthouse, said he believes the administration's strategy is to make barriers to having a case heard so high it becomes virtually impossible. "Changing locations of the physical court is a step to further that agenda," Shamieh said.
Jane Lee, an immigration attorney who volunteers as an "attorney of the day" providing same-day legal assistance at hearings, said Concord will struggle to handle the volume. "The area that this court is going to cover is really large and there's like thousands of cases and we don't have the judges," she said.
Milli Atkinson, director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at the Bar Association of San Francisco, expressed concern about immigrants without lawyers not knowing they are supposed to appear in a different city. She noted that during a previous transition in 2024, some grace was extended when respondents missed hearings due to confusion over location changes. Now she worries that grace may not be offered as the administration seeks ways to issue more deportation orders for those who miss hearings.
What the Numbers Show
San Francisco's immigration court denied asylum approximately 30% of the time in fiscal year 2025, half the national average denial rate, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. Since 2004, more than half of respondents who received a decision at that court were approved for asylum.
The court's high approval rate correlates with representation rates: about 69% of immigrants with cases in San Francisco had lawyers representing them, making it the second-highest representation rate in the country, according to the American Immigration Council. Concord ranks third among immigration courts for representation rates.
Nationally, the immigration court system had a quarter fewer judges at the start of this year compared to January 2025, even as the case backlog stands at 3.5 million pending cases. Only one of the recently hired immigration judges is currently assigned to Concord.
San Francisco's courthouse housed 21 judges before recent departures; it now has just two remaining at a secondary location with two courtrooms. The Concord court was built for 21 judges but operates with four, not counting the supervisor.
The Bottom Line
The closure of San Francisco's main immigration courthouse represents both a logistical and symbolic shift in how asylum cases will be heard in Northern California. For immigrants like Elin, who entered the U.S. from Nicaragua in 2020 and is seeking asylum, the change means longer commutes and continued uncertainty. His final hearing has been rescheduled multiple times, including after his assigned judge was fired, and is now slated for 2029 at a location with judges who no longer work there.
Legal advocates are mobilizing to support affected immigrants, with San Francisco attorneys of the day training in Concord procedures and volunteer coalitions preparing to distribute informational packets. However, nonprofit organizations like La Raza Centro Legal have stopped taking new cases due to unpredictability about when existing clients' hearings will be scheduled.
Attorneys and professors who practice in the court note its historical significance as a site where landmark immigration cases reached the U.S. Supreme Court, including decisions regarding protection from deportation for labor leader Harry Bridges and legal standards for asylum claims. What happens next will depend on whether Concord can absorb 100,000 cases with fewer than a quarter of its intended staffing while immigrants navigate longer commutes and potential gaps in legal representation.