Trump DOJ Fires 20 Immigration Judges as Termination Wave Begins

The Department of Justice has terminated an entire class of newly hired federal immigration judges as well as several management-level judges.

The firings include 20 judges across the nation’s immigration courts, according to the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. The removals were first reported by the Associated Press.

They come as the Trump administration targets thousands of positions across the federal government, abruptly terminating many workers with little explanation. Five assistant chief immigration judges were also terminated this week. The Trump administration previously fired five senior-level judges in January.

The judges decide whether noncitizens should be deported when the government begins removal proceedings or whether they’re eligible for some form of relief like asylum. Immigrants can apply for employment authorization while their asylum claims are pending although court backlogs leave them in legal limbo for years.

Removing judges could slow the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda as it will make processing of removal cases even less efficient. The terminations undermine efforts to reduce an ever worsening backlog at immigration courts, which had 3.7 million pending cases at the end of last year. They’ll have even more cases to process as the administration curtails other forms of temporary immigrant relief.

“The firing of immigration judges when we need more judges to enforce our immigration laws by this administration is a perfect example of hypocrisy,” said Matt Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents the country’s 700 immigration judges.

Each judge would hear 500 to 700 cases this year, many thousands of cases won’t be heard this year, he said.

The Trump administration has also eliminated positions at the Department of Homeland Security although it exempted roles involved in immigration enforcement.

Kerry Doyle, who joined the Chelmsford, Mass., immigration court in December, was part of a class of 13 recently hired judges who learned that they were terminated Friday by the DOJ’s Executive Office of Immigration Review.

In a letter from DOJ, she said she was told the agency “has determined that retaining you is not the best interest of the agency,” but wasn’t given other reasons for the termination.

The agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Growth in Cases

Tougher enforcement of immigration violations and a growing numbers of asylum claims from immigrants at the southern border have contributed to the growth in new cases. DOJ under both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration added a number of new judges, but staffing at the courts hasn’t kept up with the increased workload.

“There’s an enormous work load and every IJ makes a difference,” Doyle said. “The firings and the sense of uncertainty have been bad for morale for the organization. That can affect people and how they do the work as well.”

Although the Trump administration may have other efficiency measures for the courts in mind, “people do still have due process rights to appear before an immigration judge,” Doyle said.

Doyle has practiced immigration law for 30 years and previously served in the Department of Homeland Security as deputy general counsel for immigration. The terminated December class of 13 new judges included a mix of backgrounds, including former prosecutors as well as military veterans, she said.

Immigration judges themselves have sought to highlight the dysfunction stemming from the overburdened court system.

In December they renewed efforts to restore recognition for their union, the National Association of Immigration Judges, which a then-GOP controlled federal labor board voted to de-certify in 2020. Union leaders have said that the move was made to silence judges.