TAMPA, Fla. — Navigating the Immigration system can be a daunting task. The court system is backlogged with millions of cases in varying stages of the process, and sometimes it can take 5 to 8 years just get a hearing.

What You Need To Know

  •  US immigration court system is backlogged by more than 3 million cases according to federal data 

  •  David Pazmino immigrated from Ecuador and it took him 13 years to get citizenship 

  •  Florida has the largest number of backlogged cases 

David Pazmino, a paralegal based in Tampa, knows the process all too well. He spent 13 years going through the system to gain full citizenship in 2013. He says it was a tough process because it limits what you can do in terms of work.

“Job wise, you are limited because, for example, if you wanted to work for the government, you have to be a citizen,” he said. “So you are limited on what you can do.”

Syracuse University collected Federal Data that shows there is a backlog of three million cases involving immigrants and asylum seekers. It also found Florida has the biggest backlog in the country at more than 481,000 cases.

Pazmino says he isn’t surprised by this.

“Florida has been home for immigrants throughout its history from the Cubans that came in the 60s to the Haitians that came in the 80s,” Pazmino said.

For immigration attorneys like Danielle Hernandez, who heads up DVH Law Group in Ybor City, the backlog is just part of the job. She has more than 400 clients and says the state has limited resources.

“We only have two courts in the whole entire state of Florida, it’s just too big to just have two immigration courts,” Hernandez said.