The Justice Department in recent days fired more than a dozen immigration court judges across the country, according to the union that represents them.
The firings of 17 immigration judges since July 11 — 15 that day and 2 on July 14 — comes as the Trump administration looks to rapidly detain and deport migrants in the country. The judges were in federal courts in 10 states, including California, Louisiana, New York and Texas, according to the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents immigration judges.
“This is nonsensical,” Matt Biggs, the union president, said in a statement. “The answer is to stop firing, and start hiring.”
A union spokesperson said all 17 were fired without cause. Biggs said there remain around 600 judges, which fall under the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.
A spokesperson for the Executive Office for Immigration Review declined to comment.
Immigration Courts have a backlog of over 3.6 million cases, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonprofit data research center affiliated with Syracuse University. Cases take years for final determinations on whether people can stay in the country as migrants navigate complex legal systems, often without legal representation.
Through the recent federal spending law signed by President Donald Trump, the Executive Office of Immigration Review will get a lump sum of $3.3 billion, according to the American Immigration Council. This limits the office to 800 immigration judges, which comes as congressional spending has dramatically increased to detain and deport people, with nearly $171 billion allocated in the law.
“Rather than speeding up immigration adjudication, the actions of the Department of Justice and (Executive Office for Immigration Review) are wasting taxpayer dollars by making the backlog worse and decimating judicial independence.” Biggs said.
Immigration courts have faced increasing scrutiny as migrants looking to attend regular hearings are detained entering or exiting courtrooms by masked agents. They have become the center of protests across the country, including in Los Angeles and New York.
Since May, immigrant rights advocates and observers have noted judges have approved motions to dismiss deportation cases by government lawyers, and agents then detain migrants after proceedings. Migrants, now in detention, are then fast-tracked to removal from the country.
A union spokesperson said most of the 17 judges fell into two classes that were in probationary hiring periods ending in mid- to late-July, though some had been employed for a number of years.
Since Trump took office in January, over 100 judges and management-level judges have either been fired, voluntary left after receiving “Fork in the Road” notices to resign, or transferred out of immigration courts, the union said.
The union said it takes at least a year to recruit, hire and train a new judge. They hear between 500 and 700 cases annually, and the firings will only add to the backlog, the union said.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump DOJ fires immigration court judges across US, union says
