WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — Despite a backlog of nearly 3.7 million cases in U.S. immigration court, the Trump administration has fired 20 immigration judges without an explanation, according to a union representing federal workers.
That included seven assistant chief immigration judges and a class of 13 immigration judges hired in December who had completed their training and had yet to be sworn in, according to the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, the union that also represents immigration judges.
Additionally, two immigration judges and five senior managers have been dismissed since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, bringing the total removed from the U.S. Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review to 27, the union said. Some heard cases, as well as scheduled deportation hearings.
Immigration judges preside over asylum cases, which entails scheduling and hearing the claims before issuing a decision to either grant or deny asylum. Immigration judges also issue removal orders and can close a case.
There are roughly 40 assistant chief immigration judges who oversee and supervise immigration judges, as well as make decisions on individual immigration cases.
The Associated Press first reported on the Friday firings.
They follow last week’s mass firings across federal agencies of newly hired and recently promoted federal workers who were within the probationary window of one to two years.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review oversees DOJ’s roughly 70 immigration courts and 700 judges.
The Department of Justice did not respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment.
The union said that all immigration judges received the “Fork in the Road” email from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management about the government’s deferred resignation program for federal employees.
Matt Biggs, the president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents immigration judges, called the firings a “hypocrisy,” and predicted it will only worsen the backlog of cases in immigration court.
“The firing of immigration judges when we need more judges to enforce our immigration laws by this administration is a perfect example of hypocrisy,” he said. “President Trump said he wanted to hire more immigration judges. Instead, his underlings over the past month have fired 15 judges without cause and 12 managers who schedule deportation hearings.”
Biggs noted that each immigration judge fired would have heard between 500 to 700 cases this year.
During the Trump administration’s first week, several leaders of EOIR were fired, including the acting director, the chief immigration judge, the head of policy for the agency and the general counsel. It signaled that the Trump administration plans to remake the immigration court system.
Sirce Owen is now the acting director of EOIR for the Trump administration and previously served as an appellate immigration judge.
There are more than 70 immigration courts across the country, but not every state has one.
States that have immigration courts include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
