Dallas community leader held by ICE for 7 months faces uncertain future, raising broader concerns

Nearly 400,000 immigration cases are pending in Texas, and among them is Dallas community leader and SMU alum Omar Salazar, who was detained for being in the country illegally after a traffic stop last year.

Seven long months inside ICE's Bluebonnet Detention Facility northwest of Abilene, and there is still no decision on Salazar's future.

Attorney says he's still hopeful

"He has been holding on. He hasn't lost faith yet. He still believes that, you know, a decision is going to come," said Veronica Franco Salazar, Salazar's immigration attorney at Monty & Ramirez LLP in Houston. "But it is a frustrating experience."

ICE took Salazar into custody after a traffic stop in August. The SMU graduate was brought to the U.S. from Mexico at age 11. He did not qualify for asylum and he was not eligible for DACA because he missed the eligibility window by just a few months. His legal team says he has no criminal history, and while detained, he married his longtime girlfriend.

A decision in his immigration case was expected in February, but more than a month later, there is still no answer.

"This is a case that really calls out for discretion," said Jacob Monty, another attorney on his team. "We think we've met that discretion."

Salazar's legal team believes the delays stem from a backlog of immigration cases, overworked judges, vacancies on the bench, and policy shifts from the Trump administration, including mandatory detention. Three different judges have already handled Salazar's file.

Salazar's final court hearing was on Feb. 11, and a decision in his immigration case was expected two weeks later, but more than a month later, there is still no answer.

Backlog straining the system

"A lot of these cases are slipping through the cracks, and Omar's case is, you know, the greatest example of that," Franco Salazar said. "I don't think they really thought through what it looks like to detain the amount of people that are currently in these detention centers. The burden on the resources, the burden on the system."

CBS News Texas reached out to the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the Department of Homeland Security about the backlog, but did not receive a response by the deadline.

Federal data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, shows more than 3.3 million pending immigration cases nationwide, including more than 370,000 in Texas.

"Thousands of Omars" in similar limbo

"Omar is not the only person, you know, there's really thousands of Omars in this situation, people that don't have a criminal history, that are caught up in this mass deportation machine that is designed to just pick up people and try to get them deported as quickly as possible," Monty said.

Salazar's team says his case highlights a much larger issue tied to the delays.

"Even if you want to receive your due process, you're still having your justice denied," Franco Salazar said.

No timeline for a decision

It remains unclear when a decision will come in Salazar's case. His team says family and friends remain hopeful an immigration judge will allow him to stay in the country.