http://www.wral.com/apncnews/9446562/detail.html

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- North Carolina, home to one of the nation's largest illegal immigrant populations, is among three states being considered for a new immigration court, officials said.

Missouri and Nebraska are also on the list, said Charles Miller, a spokesman for the Department of Justice.

North Carolina ranks eighth in the nation with almost 400,000 undocumented immigrants, according to the Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center. The top seven have immigration courts within their borders.

"I think the court would allow us to have hearings faster and bring about more deportations. I think it's a win-win, because it enforces the law and also helps people who are abiding by the law," said Andy Polk, a spokesman for Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C. Myrick has been calling for the court for the past six years.

An Atlanta court handles immigration law cases from the Carolinas, Alabama and Georgia.

Immigration judges deal with asylum requests, residency status reviews and removal proceedings, including deportation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review in the Department of Justice determines new court locations and allocates money, said spokeswoman Susan Eastwood.

Criteria for choosing sites include the number of cases originating in a state with no court, proximity to courts in other states and money available to pay for a court.

With two judges and their staffs, an immigration court costs about $1.1 million a year, Eastwood said, but she would not name a date for a decision.

About 3,400 cases from North Carolina were heard in the Atlanta immigration court in fiscal 2004-05, according to department statistics, the largest number of cases heard that year from the 32 states without an immigration court.

James Gibbs, a Winston-Salem-based immigration attorney, said he has traveled five hours to Atlanta for some hearings that lasted about five minutes.

Judges in Atlanta used to let hearings be done by telephone, Gibbs said, "but in the last six months our clients have to go down there for every hearing."