After recent budget cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency, which included the firing of the entire Phoenix Field Office at the General Services Administration, judges and lawyers are attempting to find the time and coverage for the increasing number of cases presented before them.

Multiple cases are being held at the same time before the same judge, and each day’s proceedings are filled with preliminary trials for new cases.

Judge Eileen S. Willett, who serves with the Arizona District Court, oversaw the sentencing of Deonicio Gomez-Perez and Fermin Octaviano-Lazcano at the same time. Her schedule was full of these simultaneous sentences.

“We had so many, we just wanted to get them done,” Judge Eileen S. Willett said.

Both cases occurred at the same time, within the same courtroom. Both men sat before the judge next to their legal counsel, lawyers Karina Ordonez and Keith E. Terry.

Both men were sentenced to a felony illegal re-entry charge and a misdemeanor illegal entry charge, according to court documents. Both men were being held in detention due to the risk of fleeing.

Both Gomez-Perez and Octaviano-Lazcano had initially pleaded not guilty to their charges. Yet at the sentencing hearing, each chose to plead guilty to their misdemeanor charges and kept the not guilty plea for their felony charges.

According to Terry, who represents Octaviano-Lazcano, this increasingly common tactic has come to be known as a “flip deal,” in reference to their flipping from a not guilty plea to guilty.

In a flip deal, the defendant pleads guilty to any misdemeanor charges they've been accused of, while maintaining their innocence of any felony charges. Deals like this are meant to reduce both the potential punishment and length of each court case.

Each day new cases are being brought to the courts as the administration’s crack down on people present illegally in the country continues to grow.

On Friday, six new defendants were brought before Judge Michael T. Morrissey, with more detainees being brought to court each day.

The defendants were each assigned legal counsel on account of lack of funds, then ordered to be detained due to the risk of flight. The detainment of each suspect then causes additional strain upon the legal system, as already-thin resources and manpower are required to hold the accused.

Three defense attorneys were present in the room as legal counsel, and each was assigned two of the men as clients due to their inability to pay for a private lawyer.

The last of these men was not adequately briefed about the charges against him or the purpose of the court session beforehand due to the lack of time and number of cases each defense attorney is currently handling.

Errors such as these show just how badly impacted the courts are by the staff and budget cuts and the suddenly massive increase of undocumented migrants being detained.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes declared the firings of Phoenix court employees reckless, chaotic and illegal in a post on X, and expressed that the decision is why she has chosen to sue the Trump administration in a lawsuit issued Thursday.

The lawsuit aims to restore many of the terminated officials back to their positions.