Elliot Spagat, Associated Press, Feb. 15, 2025
“The Trump administration fired 20 immigration judges with out rationalization, a union official mentioned Saturday amid sweeping strikes to shrink the scale of the federal authorities. On Friday, 13 judges who had but to be sworn in and 5 assistant chief immigration judges had been dismissed with out discover, mentioned Matthew Biggs, president of the Worldwide Federation of Skilled & Technical Engineers, which represents federal employees. Two different judges had been fired beneath comparable circumstances within the final week. It was unclear if they’d get replaced. The U.S. Justice Division’s Government Workplace for Immigration Evaluate, which runs the courts and oversees its roughly 700 judges, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Saturday. Immigration courts are backlogged with greater than 3.7 million circumstances, in response to Syracuse College’s Transactional Information Entry Clearinghouse, and it takes years to resolve asylum circumstances. There’s help throughout the political spectrum for extra judges and help workers, although the primary Trump administration additionally pressured some judges to resolve circumstances extra rapidly.”
[Editor’s Note: Insiders tell me these firings are political punishment for judges deemed too liberal.]
