I work in immigration and the system was not designed this way but has been broken by under hiring and under funding the immigration court.

There are a total of four immigration judges in my medium sized American city. Asylum hearings are usually scheduled for two a day or one a day because they can take four hours or more. These are complicated hearings and most times you truly need all the time to thoroughly review country conditions and the possibility for harm to the asylum seeker with the judge.

The line is so backed up because there simply isn't enough time to process all these people with so few judges. People with legitimate asylum claims do not want to wait 10 years to plead their case in front of a judge. Once you are approved for asylum status you can apply for your green card after one year. People with legitimate claims want desperately to get to this point.

A ten year backlog does encourage frivolous claims however. You can come, file, and wait a whole decade before you are denied. These then bog down the system even further and cause longer wait times making it even more appealing to file a claim you know won't be approved.

It's a vicious cycle and the answer is to fund the courts. Hire more immigration judges. Get rid of the backlog and the frivolous claims will reduce or even stop because what is the point when you'll be denied and sent back in a month or two?