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Trump administration fires immigration judges,…
Immigration Regulation
Trump administration fires immigration judges, even because it seeks to rent extra of them
By Debra Cassens Weiss
September 24, 2025, 2:36 pm CDT
Masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers had been seen stalking the corridors on the twelfth flooring of Decrease Manhattan’s immigration courtroom at 26 Federal Plaza in New York Metropolis on Sept. 8, 2025. (Photograph by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu by way of Getty Pictures)
The Trump administration fired practically 20 immigration judges this month, following the dismissal of greater than 80 judges earlier this yr.
The dismissals come because the administration is looking for so as to add immigration judges by filling jobs with as much as 600 army attorneys. The present backlog within the courts is sort of 4 million circumstances, NPR experiences in its article on the newest firings.
Matt Biggs, the president of the union that represents immigration judges, stated in a press release to NPR the dismissal of extra judges “is an illogical and expensive setback for the nation’s immigration courts.”
“At a time when the backlog has reached historic ranges and the administration has made immigration enforcement a central problem, the elimination of skilled judges is hypocritical, undermines the legislation, wastes taxpayer {dollars} and additional delays justice for residents and immigrants alike,” stated Biggs, who’s the president of the Worldwide Federation of Skilled and Technical Engineers.
The variety of departing immigration judges swells when the dismissals are mixed with voluntary resignations. The loss was greater than 125 immigration judges within the final 9 months, down from 700 judges in the beginning of the yr, in keeping with NPR.
In San Francisco, seven immigration judges have been fired as of Sept. 11, amounting to about one-third of the judges there, the San Francisco Chronicle experiences.
Immigration judges preside in courts overseen by the Division of Justice’s Government Workplace for Immigration Overview. They determine whether or not noncitizens accused of violating immigration legal guidelines needs to be eliminated or granted safety from elimination.
San Francisco immigration courts grant reduction to immigrants in 71% of the circumstances, one of many highest charges among the many nation’s largest courts, the article says.
5 of the seven judges fired in San Francisco grant reduction at increased charges than their colleagues. One fired decide had the bottom price of granting reduction within the courtroom.
Sirce Owen, the appearing director of the Government Workplace for Immigration Overview, stated in an August memo “statistically inconceivable final result metrics” may point out bias or failure to stick to the legislation, warranting “shut examination and potential motion.”
Government Workplace for Immigration Overview management has additionally criticized judges for failing to handle their caseloads effectively, in keeping with NPR.
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