DOJ Restricts Immigration Judges’ Free Speech Rights, Suit Says

The Department of Justice is unlawfully restricting immigration judges’ free speech rights, according to a lawsuit filed by the judges’ union.

An update to the department’s existing policy governing judges’ public speaking engagements and contact with the press places sweeping restrictions on the judges, a complaint filed Wednesday by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University on behalf of the National Association of Immigration Judges says. The NAIJ is an AFL-CIO affiliate that represents about 460 U.S. immigration judges.

The policy, which was revised in a January memorandum from the department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, says the judges ...