The backlog in immigration court cases -- which has been piling up for the last decade -- has only gotten worse since thousands of undocumented children fled Central America and migrated to the U.S. last summer. As a result, thousands of cases involving undocumented immigrants seeking either political asylum or refugee status have been placed on the backburner, and are not scheduled to be heard until as late as 2019.

Federal reports released earlier this year show that the backlog in the already overburdened federal immigration courts increased by 68 percent since 2014, bringing the number of pending cases to an all-time high of 445,706 in April, reports The Los Angeles Times. That number now hovers at more than 450,000, according to Fox News Latino.

Based on the reports, the surge in court cases was largely driven by the influx of illegal immigration from Central America last summer, which included over 68,500 unaccompanied children.

Following the surge, officials choose to give the unaccompanied children's cases priority in the courts. However, their move to the front of the line in the immigration court system has created more frenzy. Now, immigration lawyers and nonprofit service groups say that those who have been seeking political asylum or refugee status for years are being told that their cases have been pushed back to as late as 2019.

"There's no place (in the immigration system) that has any give anymore," said Vanessa Allyn, the Human Rights First managing attorney for refugee representation, to Fox News Latino. "It's a real big hardship for the people who are waiting" for decisions, for green cards, for visas and work permits. They don't have any hope. They don't know when it will happen, or if it will happen."

Although the recommended caseload for an immigration court judge is 600, each of the 260 immigration judges across the nation are being forced to carry 1,800 cases.

"People are losing their jobs. An employment authorization card is only valid for a year, and when it expires an employer cannot continue to employ them," Allyn added.