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New York Times
07-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Immigration Judges and Court Staff Take Payout Offers to Leave
A number of immigration judges have accepted government payout offers to leave, a union official said on Thursday, further depleting an overwhelmed system that President Trump had promised to fortify. A total of 85 employees, including 18 judges, at the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review accepted the government's deferred resignation offer or early retirement. The Trump administration previously fired 29 others from that office, according to the union official, including the office's top leaders. About 40 of the more than 700 immigration judges in place when Mr. Trump took office have now been fired or agreed to leave. The judges, who are part of the administrative court system under the Justice Department rather than part of the judicial branch, make decisions about asylum claims and have the power to order someone removed from the country. Mr. Trump campaigned on a promise to hire more of them to address a growing backlog that can make cases stretch for years. A loss of immigration judges is likely to undercut Mr. Trump's efforts to deport millions of immigrants, since delays in adjudicating immigration claims contribute to the number of undocumented immigrants living in the United States while waiting for their cases to be resolved. 'Donald Trump ran for office promising to boost deportations, but as president, his administration's policies are actually decreasing the number of immigration judges and judge teams who hold deportation hearings,' Matthew Biggs, the president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, said in a statement on Thursday. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On average, each judge handles 500 to 700 cases a year. The court has a backlog of more than 3.7 million cases, according to data collected by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. The backlog is a byproduct of an immigration system under strain for decades. Since it can be years before an asylum seeker, for example, appears in court, many immigrants start putting down roots and growing their families in communities across the country. 'Immigration judges are hard to replace given their specialized knowledge and legal experience,' Mr. Biggs said. 'It takes at least a year to recruit, hire, train and conduct a background check on a new judge.' Both Democrats and Republicans have supported adding more judges to the system. The administration has also fired judges on the Board of Immigration Appeals. 'This makes no sense,' Mr. Biggs said. The Justice Department last month issued a memo stating that immigration judges could be fired at will, suggesting more cuts would be coming.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Justice Department fires 20 immigration judges from backlogged courts amid major government cuts
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration fired 20 immigration judges without explanation, a union official said Saturday amid sweeping moves to shrink the size of the federal government. On Friday, 13 judges who had yet to be sworn in and five assistant chief immigration judges were dismissed without notice, said Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, which represents federal workers. Two other judges were fired under similar circumstances in the last week. It was unclear if they would be replaced. The U.S. Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the courts and oversees its roughly 700 judges, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. Immigration courts are backlogged with more than 3.7 million cases, according to Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, and it takes years to decide asylum cases. There is support across the political spectrum for more judges and support staff, though the first Trump administration also pressured some judges to decide cases more quickly. The Trump administration earlier replaced five top court officials, including Mary Cheng, the agency's acting director. Sirce Owen, the current leader and previously an appellate immigration judge, has issued a slew of new instructions, many reversing policies of the Biden administration. Last month, the Justice Department halted financial support for nongovernmental organizations to provide information and guidance to people facing deportation but restored funding after a coalition of nonprofit groups filed a federal lawsuit. The firings touch on two top Trump priorities: mass deportations and shrinking the size of the federal government. On Thursday, it ordered agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers. Probationary workers generally have less than a year on the job. Biggs, the union official, said he didn't know if the judges' firings were intended to send a message on immigration policy and characterized them as part of a campaign across the federal workforce. 'They're treating these people as if they're not human beings,' he said. 'It's bad all around.' ___
