Appearing before an immigration court often marks a frightful experience for those fighting for a chance to remain in the United States. But the judges behind the bench are feeling the stress, too, the Los Angeles Times revealed.

For Eliza Klein, an immigration judge for more than 20 years, the duties became overwhelming, and she decided to resign in January.

"I just really didn't like telling these young kids they had to go back to this situation. It really was very stressful for me and distressing," she said. "I started out my career representing people with asylum claims, and a lot of those were Central American. I didn't want to sign my name on something and send someone back somewhere where they could potentially lose their life."

Cases like Klein's spell trouble for the immigration court system, which has been burdened by more cases than it can possibly handle, Quartz noted. Since 2007, its backlog in cases has increased by nearly 160 percent, while the number of immigration judges only grew by 15 percent.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that more than half of the country's 247 immigration judges are eligible to retire this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. And as their working conditions grow worse, many of her colleagues may be inclined to choose that option, Klein told the Los Angeles Times.

"Clerks can't keep up with this workload, and it's just unreasonable," she said. "Why immigration judges get burned out is they have a high volume of cases, some on their dockets for years, and then those cases get pushed out because somebody in Washington says these other cases matter more."

Dana Leigh Marks, a San Francisco immigration judge who also leads the National Association of Immigration Judges, said the courts are "desperately understaffed."

In response, the U.S. Department of Justice, responsible for finding replacements, has embarked on "an aggressive hiring process," the Los Angeles Times reported. So far, the department has added 18 judges, five more will start this fiscal year, and 67 new judges still need to be hired, immigration court spokeswoman Kathryn Mattingly said.