Immigrants may have to wait longer to have their cases heard in immigration courts next year as almost half of the 220 judges will be eligible for retirement, and some may take advantage of the opportunity.

In 2013, the court suffered from 32 vacancies within the nation's 59 immigration courts, thus contributing to the current backlog of nearly 350,000 cases.

Even though the Executive Office for Immigration Review says its average retirement rate is only 5 percent per year, which would mean 11 judges could retire in 2014, there are a variety of factors likely to push retirement-eligible immigration judges to retire at the earliest opportunity.  This may mean that a high rate of immigrants with legitimate asylum claims can spend years in legal limbo, reports the Assoicated Press.

According to a 2009 University of California at San Francisco study, immigration judges endure greater job burnout and more stress "than prison wardens and physicians in busy hospitals," reports Think Progress. The judges blamed the stress on the pressure to adjudicate lots of cases in addition to deciding the fate of so many lives in a short amount of time. Other factors include the backlog of cases that new judges would inherit and the fact that judges are burdened by budgetary constraints.

Immigration courts also lack resources like a bailiff, court reporter and often times a court clerk. Plus, immigration judges are required to do a greater amount of the legal research than other judges since 60 percent of those who come before their bench cannot afford an attorney.

On the other hand, some undocumented immigrants benefit from the lag time because it allows them to remain in the country longer, and some immigrants are hopeful that if they can fight deportation long enough, Congress will eventually pass a pathway to citizenship. Other undocumented immigrants may also marry a U.S. citizen while waiting for their cases to be heard.

Over the summer, the Senate's bipartisan immigration bill addressed this issue by allocating more money for the immigration courts and calling for 225 new judges, as well as an equal number of support staff. However, Republican House Speaker John Boehner has stalled the bill by refusing to let his chamber take a vote on it.