Latest news with #IFPTE
CBS News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Fewer judges serving backlogged Colorado immigration courts after firings and severance offers
Colorado has a backlog of more than 73,000 immigration cases pending before the courts, but now there are fewer judges to hear those cases. An immigration judge serving at the Aurora Immigration Court, housed at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement GEO Group detention facility, was fired this month by the Trump administration. The court's website now lists just one judge serving there, where 1,200 people are detained. Two other judges at the Immigration Court in downtown Denver took voluntary separation offers, sources tell CBS News. The Denver Immigration Court lists six judges still serving. The union representing the judges says these actions are harming judicial independence. Immigration judges are represented by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. Matt Biggs is the president of the IFPTE, and said, "the administration's intention is to actually enforce immigration laws very strictly. You do that by having a healthy supply of immigration judges, and this administration is going in the opposite direction; they're actually firing the very judges that need to hear these cases." The union says it takes at least a year to hire and onboard a new immigration judge. The Justice Department's Executive Office of Immigration Review, which oversees the nation's immigration courts, declined to comment.
Boston Globe
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Pride and progress: How Rhode Island unions helped win LGBTQ+ rights
When now president of Rhode Island Laborers' District Council Karen Hazard was a new organizer in the mid-1990s with the Laborers' Union, she couldn't talk to prospective members on construction sites about the great pension benefits, because those benefits didn't even apply to her own family. It was up to her to have a hard, honest conversation with her union leadership about what 'family' meant for all their members. In the years to come, the union re-shaped the benefits they offered and negotiated to include all members and their families. It was because of Hazard's early and quiet leadership that her wife and the spouses of countless other members were included in union pension plans. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up In 2001, Rhode Island enacted its statewide Advertisement When it came to benefits for same-sex couples, state workers were often left in limbo. At the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, where now president of IFPTE local 400 Denise Robinson worked and organized, the benefits for domestic partnerships added in state law were not openly advertised to workers. Some went years without accessing their full benefits. It became the role of the union to communicate to members about what they were entitled to and what their rights were. Advertisement Still, these benefits did not come without their complications. Robinson experienced this firsthand when she added her partner to her health insurance, only to find out a year later that this benefit had been taxed as income, and as a result, she was liable for misreporting her income on her taxes. If she and her partner had been allowed to legally marry at that time, they would have never faced the same scrutiny for spousal benefits. These were the kinds of quiet battles queer labor organizers fought every day: to be included, to be recognized, and to make our unions better and more inclusive for everyone. It was the work of union organizers, countless stewards and delegates, and local presidents to defend members, and to negotiate protections that extended beyond what the law provided. Then came 2013. The campaign for Advertisement It was labor's leadership, our formal endorsements, our organizing infrastructure, and our solidarity, that helped make that victory possible. And it will be the labor movement that makes sure that we can keep fighting. Since taking office, We are proud that our labor movement stood on the right side of history, and prouder still to give queer workers a sense of belonging and protection that has been fought for and earned. This Pride Month, we're proud to be union. We're proud to be queer. And we are proud to keep up the fight. Karen Hazard is president of Rhode Island Laborers' District Council, and secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO. Denise Robinson is president of IFPTE local 400, and member of RI AFL-CIO executive committee .
National Post
09-06-2025
- Business
- National Post
The Society of United Professionals to Join WSIB Strike Picket Line, Marking 20th Anniversary of Historic Society Strike
Article content TORONTO — Members of the Society of United Professionals, IFPTE Local 160, will join the ongoing picket line at 200 Front Street West on Monday, June 9, 2025, in support of 3,600 striking WSIB workers represented by the Ontario Compensation Employees Union (OCEU/CUPE 1750). This show of solidarity comes as OCEU recently marked two weeks on strike, demanding fair wages, safer workplaces, and an end to outsourcing critical Ontario jobs to U.S. firms. Article content Approximately 170 Society members, will walk the picket line alongside OCEU/CUPE 1750 members. The action coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Society's own 105-day strike at Hydro One—a pivotal moment in Ontario's labour history. Article content Speakers at a 10:00 a.m. rally will include: Article content 'Ontario's public sector workers are united in their call for respect, fair pay, and safe working conditions,' Matt Biggs, International President of the Society of United Professionals. 'We know firsthand the challenges of standing up for what's right, and we're proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with OCEU/CUPE 1750 members as they fight for all Ontarians.' Article content Since the walkout began, WSIB staff have faced chronic understaffing, stagnant wages, and increased pressure to outsource vital services. The ongoing strike highlights the urgent need for government and management to invest in Ontario jobs and public services, rather than sending work south of the border. Article content 'We're incredibly grateful to the Society of United Professionals and IFPTE for standing with us on the picket line,' said Harry Goslin, President of OCEU/CUPE 1750. 'Their solidarity sends a powerful message—not just to our employer, but to the entire labour movement—that when workers stand together, we are stronger, louder, and impossible to ignore.' Article content A small Society delegation will also attempt to deliver a letter of solidarity on behalf of 90,000 IFPTE members across North America to WSIB President Jeffery Lang, underscoring growing concern over the Ford government's inaction on dangerous workloads and the outsourcing of Ontario jobs. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
Axios
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Nearly 100 immigration court staff retiring, resigning amid swelling backlog
Nearly 100 U.S. immigration court professionals are resigning or retiring, on top of the around 30 immigration judges and senior staff recently fired by the Trump administration, a union for immigration judges said Friday. Why it matters: The staff reduction will likely add to the historic backlog of cases and slow President Trump's mass deportation plan, even as he asks Congress for more resources. The nation's immigration court system is how immigrants can make their case to stay in the U.S. The big picture: The Department of Justice said in a memo last month it is moving to consider all immigration judges at-will employees without any federal employee protections. That's putting immigration judges and the Trump administration on a collision course likely to slow down the record pace of cases immigration courts heard as President Biden left office. Zoom in: About 85 immigration court professionals are resigning or retiring, the International Federation of Professional Engineers (IFPTE), the union representing the country's roughly 700 immigration judges, says. This follows the firing of 29 judges and senior staff by the Trump administration. The union said no cause was given for the firing of judges. The past week, one additional probationary immigration judge has been fired, the union said. The White House didn't directly address the reduction in immigration court staff to Axios but said President Trump will "use every lever of executive and legislative power" to fulfill his promises. "President Trump received a historic mandate from the American people to secure our border, mass deport illegal immigrants, and put American citizens first, White House Spokesman Kush Desai tells Axios. A DOJ spokesperson tells Axios the backlog of "cases was only increasing prior to this administration, which is now in position to hire more judges to work towards reducing this backlog." State of play: The union estimates that the loss of judges and members of judge teams will add 24,000 cases to the courts' backlog in 2025. Immigration courts were on pace to rule on 852,000 deportation cases from Oct. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2025, according to an analysis of case data by the nonpartisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). If that pace had continued, immigration judges would have ruled on more deportation cases in 2025 than in any previous year. The current backlog of 3.7 million cases in immigration courts means detained immigrants have to wait months, even years, for a hearing. What they're saying: "Donald Trump ran for office promising to boost deportations, but as president his administration's policies are actually decreasing the number of immigration judges," IFPTE President Matt Biggs says. The administration is making the backlog worse and is being hypocritical in asking Congress for more resources for deportations, he added. Context: The Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) during the first Trump administration stripped the immigration judges of their bargaining and union power in 2020 after the administration called judges "managers" who weren't eligible for union representation. The International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents 90,000 public-, private- and federal-sector workers in the U.S. and Canada, is trying to get the immigration judges' union back. Between the lines: Almost all immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally and arrested have a right to due process in the country's civil immigration court system. There, an immigration judge hears the case, sometimes in less than 30 minutes, and issues a ruling. Yes, but: One of the executive orders signed by Trump seeks to deny some asylum seekers hearings as required by current law. The Trump administration also issued a new rule that dramatically expands expedited removal of immigrants who can't prove they've been in the U.S. for at least two years without full court hearings. The ACLU and two of its chapters are suing to halt that rule, which seeks to expand "fast-track" deportations.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's Rage Over 'Low' Deportations Suddenly Gets More Unnerving
For weeks now, President Donald Trump's propagandists have relentlessly glorified his mass-deportations, even posting images of defeated-looking migrants getting frog-marched onto shiny military planes. If this is supposed to make the Audience of One feel strong and powerful, it has failed. Trump has privately raged about the supposedly inadequate pace of expulsions, and last month, that prompted officials to demand that officers hit wildly inflated arrest quotas. Yet deportations continue to remain stubbornly below what he hopes for. Now, however, Trump's angry zeal for mass removals appears to be helping to produce a particularly unnerving outcome. The Trump administration is effectively declaring that the nation's roughly 700 immigration judges can no longer count on civil-service rules that safeguard their independence by protecting them from arbitrary removal, according to a Department of Justice memo that was sent to the judges. The memo from DOJ—which oversees the immigration courts—was flagged for me by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), the judge's' union, which believes this will make it far easier to fire judges without cause. The judges and their representatives fear that this is designed to pave the way for the removal of judges who don't consistently rule against migrants in deportation and asylum cases—and thus frustrate Trump and his hardline immigration advisers. Replacing them with judges who will more reliably rule against migrants could theoretically speed up the pace of deportations. 'What they want to do is fire immigration judges that don't issue rulings to their liking,' said Matthew Biggs, the president of IFPTE, 'and replace them with judges that will simply rubberstamp what President Trump wants.' This represents a serious escalation of Trump's assault on the immigration system. Last month, DOJ fired 20 immigration judges with no public rationale; those were largely probationary officials. Then, last week, DOJ let it be known that it will no longer observe restrictions that constrain the removal of Administrative Law Judges, a category that decides federal government agency cases and doesn't include most immigration judges. But now, DOJ is signaling that it will disregard restrictions on removal for the broad category of immigration judges as well, according to the DOJ memo, which was addressed to all employees of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the agency within the DOJ that oversees the immigration courts. The memo acknowledges that under current law, these judges benefit from 'multiple layers of for-cause removal restrictions,' meaning they can't be fired at will. But it adds that EOIR 'may decline to recognize those restrictions if they are determined to be unconstitutional.' Translated into plain English, this means that if restrictions on removing immigration judges are 'determined' by the DOJ to be unconstitutional, they will no longer apply, immigration lawyers say. It's only a matter of time until this 'determination' is made. 'They're saying they can fire judges without cause,' Tom Jawetz, a former senior lawyer at the Department of Homeland Security, told me. There are good reasons for immigration judges to enjoy protections from at-will firing. Right now, they cannot be fired unless the administration can cite a strong rationale. The restrictions on removals are rooted in statute, procedure, and precedent, and if the DOJ goes forward with the idea that they're unconstitutional—in keeping with an expansive reading of Trump's authority to fire subordinates—it will trigger a major legal battle. These judges, who annually decide hundreds of cases apiece, often rule on whether migrants are subject to deportation or if they're entitled to some form of relief, including humanitarian protections such as asylum. These rulings should be based on law and facts and not colored by each administration's general ideological views about immigration. As Jawetz put it, protections against at-will removal allow judges to make 'independent' rulings and safeguard 'the basic integrity of the proceedings and uphold the rule of law.' The IFPTE union fears that this is exactly what the new administration does not want—that disregarding protections for judges will mean more pressure on them to rule against migrants, because if they don't, Trump officials will start removing them. 'They'll look at who deports more people and who doesn't deport enough,' IFPTE president Biggs told me. 'And they'll start there.' Here's the thing: Having impartial judges dispense independent rulings on migrants really is a big problem for Trump. Right now, while arrests in the interior are higher under Trump, actual deportations are lagging behind. The courts are backlogged with around 3.7 million cases. Clearing that backlog by 2032 would require hiring 700 more judges. The backlog is a clear obstacle to more removals. All of this points to a deep incoherence in MAGA ideology. Trump and fanatical, deportation-happy advisers like Stephen Miller want as many people removed as possible. But Trump ordered Republicans to kill the 2024 bipartisan Senate border security bill, which would have provided nearly half a billion dollars to increase the courts' capacity to process migrants—including for deportation. This was not in spite of the inclusion of that money for judges. Arguably, it was in part because of it. That's because the last thing Trump and Miller want is an immigration court system that functions fairly toward migrants. After all, that risks facilitating more migration. All their initiatives are shaped around opposition to that goal, whether it's closing off channels to asylum or refugee status, ending parole programs for migrants to apply for sponsorship in this country from abroad, or rolling back temporary protections for migrants facing horrific conditions in home countries. When JD Vance said that the supposed pet-eating Haitians were 'illegal aliens' despite being here lawfully under those temporary protections, what he really meant was that he wants to close off ways for migrants like them to come here legally. Which leads back to immigration judges. As American Immigration Counsel senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick notes, Trump and his advisers actively want ICE to be able to issue removal orders without ever letting that person get a hearing in court. 'They don't want anyone to be able to tell them that an immigrant has rights, that an immigrant can apply for some form of relief,' he says. 'That is a terrifying thought.' The next best thing is judges more prone to rubberstamp deportations. As all this demonstrates, Trump and Miller don't want a system that doles out impartial legal rulings for migrants. What they want is a system that does not do this. Their holy grail is the removals of as many migrants as possible, even if that means entirely eviscerating due process for them—or especially if it does.
