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A month-long computer malfunction continues in the Dallas immigration courts and those around the nation. Even before the techno-problems, there was a significant back log of about 5,600 cases for the five judges of Dallas.

Now, some worry detained immigrants may be in for even longer detention stays while their civil cases drag through the courts. Delays for non-detained immigrants may actually benefit them and their families by stalling a deportation or giving more time for preparation of often complicated legal cases.

Immigration courts are still operating, sort of. But there's no timeline for a complete fix.

"Some cases may be continued while we continue to work through this issue," said Kathryn Mattingly, a spokeswoman in Falls Church, Va., for the Justice Department agency running the courts.

The spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Immigration Reform wouldn't clarify a statement on the agency website about "a hardware failure." They note the court information hotline is still operational but only current as of April 12, 2014.

For many attorneys, a big worry is whether there was a back-up of files, or was the government system so out-of-date none existed.

The head of the union for the immigration judges, Dana Leigh Marks, said the problem is significant, particularly snarling efficiency in the computerized docket system, or the formerly computerized docket system.

"It has been extremely difficult to function without it," said Marks, the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges and a San Francisco-based judge. "So much data about the cases is connected to it. I don't have access to a current schedule of my cases."

Judges and court interpreters are feeling the impact of the system hardware failure. But legal technicians who input every action in every case will have a hard time catching up with the activity of the last four weeks, Marks said. "All that coordination is facilitated through the docket system which doesn't function now," the union president said.

Some courts are holding hearings but rather than recording procedures digitally, court staff use old technology, four track tape recorders.

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Computer hardware failure in Dallas immigration courts snarling some cases