New York City — George Pappas, Jennifer Peyton and Carla Espinoza were all federal immigration judges fired this month by email. The three ruled on thousands of immigration cases in Chicago and Boston.
“It was arbitrary, unfair,” Pappas told CBS News of his firing. “And it’s an attack on the rule of law. It’s an attack on judges.”
Pappas served as an immigration judge in Boston until this week, overseeing more than 2,000 cases during his two years on the bench. Peyton led Chicago’s immigration court for nearly nine years, hearing thousands of cases until she was abruptly fired over the 4th of July weekend.
Peyton oversaw Espinoza, who was appointed in 2023 and decided more than 1,000 cases in the last fiscal year, double the average for immigration judges.
Peyton told CBS News she received no reason for her firing. Immigration judges are under the authority of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.
“My email was three sentences,” Peyton said. “I had no cause. I had no explanation.”
“We as judges, were in fear, we were concerned,” Espinoza added. “That makes it very difficult to be impartial. We were not succumbing to that pressure but it does feel like pressure.”
Both Pappas and Peyton disclosed that they were told how they should rule on immigration cases.
“They told me: Grant the motions to dismiss,” Pappas said. “This is when ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) was roaming the courthouses. Because if we dismissed the case, that person that responded then leaves the court vulnerable to immediate apprehension and expedited removal.”
CBS News has reported on the numerous cases where ICE agents detained immigrants as they exited their court hearings.
“Once they left the courtroom, more often than not, they would be handcuffed and led away by the ICE officers,’ Peyton added.
According to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, Federal immigration courts now face a backlog nearing four million cases, with about 600 judges left to hear those cases.
The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, the union that represents immigration court judges, reports that since the Trump Administration took office, more than 100 immigration judges have either been fired, transferred, or have taken retirement offers.
According to the union, immigration judges are considered Justice Department employees, and therefore do not have lifetime appointments like federal judges in the judicial branch.
In a Truth Social post in April, President Trump argued that, “We cannot give everyone a trial, because to do so would take, without exaggeration, 200 years.”
It is my opinion that this administration could give a hoot about the backlog,” Pappas said.
In defending its immigration crackdown, the White House has repeatedly argued that undocumented immigrants are in the U.S. illegally. And in May, the Trump administration began an effort to halt the immigration court cases of certain migrants in order to fast-track their deportation process, government officials and attorneys told CBS News at the time. Espinoza counters that the court system exists to ensure the law is followed, and attempts to circumvent it could prove to be a slippery slope.
“That’s why they’re in proceedings in court,” Espinoza said of the immigrants. “There is law that we’re applying, and they might have to go, and they might not…Today it’s them, it’s immigrants. What about tomorrow? Who’s going to get due process denied next.”
“If you’re attacking the very judges that adjudicate cases, there’s not going to be a rule of law. That should concern everybody, not just immigrants, but U.S. citizens.”
When reached by CBS News, the Justice Department had no comment on the union’s allegations that several immigration judges had been fired without cause.
And in response to claims from former judges that the firings are a targeted attack on immigration courts, the Justice Department said, “To the contrary, the Trump Administration is vigorously enforcing our nation’s immigration laws.”
And regarding the allegations from judges who spoke to CBS News that they were pressured to rule a certain way, the Justice Department said, “Although the Biden Administration did pressure Immigration Judges to rule a certain way, including to grant motions to dismiss, the Trump Administration has restored the rule of law and is ensuring that judges are adhering to the law.”
Bryan Kohberger sentenced to life in prison for murders of Idaho students
Idaho murders victims’ families speak out at Bryan Kohberger’s sentencing hearing
Johnson says Jeffrey Epstein files controversy is not a hoax
