BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - A new federal facility is opening its doors in the heart of downtown Baton Rouge — one that will quietly handle some of the most life-changing legal decisions for families in the southeast.

The city’s first immigration court is scheduled to open Oct. 20 under the direction of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, or EOIR.

“All the other a million things going on administratively, legislatively, and regulations, change in the landscape of being able to apply for asylum in the United States or succeed in those cases,” said David Rozas, a prominent local immigration lawyer.

Rozas believes the court could help bring down a historic backlog of immigration cases - 3.4 million - according to the American Immigration Council.

“Well, I think people can get their

See Full Page