DOJ hires immigration judges after months of layoffs
The Justice Department has hired 36 immigration judges, including 25 temporary ones, for its Executive Office for Immigration Review, marking the first class to join the immigration courts after months of cuts to the workforce.
Judges will soon take the bench across 16 states, according to a Justice Department announcement. These include courts that saw the biggest losses of judges this year such as Chelmsford, Mass., and Chicago.
“EOIR is restoring its integrity as a preeminent administrative adjudicatory agency,” the announcement states. “These new immigration judges are joining an immigration judge corps that is committed to upholding the rule of law.”
The incoming class of permanent judges comprises mostly those with a background in federal government work, including EOIR itself and the Department of Homeland Security. Previously, they trained Immigration and Customs enforcement and Customs and Border Protection agents, were asylum officers and worked for ICE’s legal arm. One judge was originally going to take the bench at the start of the year but was among the initial class of judges fired before they could start.
The temporary immigration judges include military lawyers from the Marines, Navy, Army and Air Force. Earlier this summer, the Pentagon authorized about 600 military lawyers to work for the DOJ. The DOJ changed who could qualify as a temporary immigration judge — effectively lowering the requirements and removing the need to have prior immigration law experience.
Immigration judges are the only ones who can revoke someone’s green card or issue a final order of removal for people who have been in the country for more than two years and are in the process of being deported. Their backgrounds have often varied. Some come to the position after several years working for ICE’s legal branch. Others come to it after working for immigrant defense nonprofits or private practice. Some have no immigration law experience.
The new cohort was trained at the EOIR headquarters in Virginia this month and are expected to start hearing immigration cases soon. Immigration courts have continued to operate during the government shutdown.
As part of its aggressive immigration policy, the Trump administration has moved fast to increase the rate of arrests of undocumented immigrants, and scale up detention space and deportations. But the rapid pace of arrests has contributed to the backlog of millions of cases at immigration courts.
Over the past 10 months, EOIR has lost more than 125 judges to firings and voluntary resignations, down from about 700 judges at the start of the year. The loss has resulted in immigration cases being delayed as far out as 2029, NPR previously reported, as vacancies increase despite open job postings to fill roles in those courts.
Earlier this year, Congress approved a spending bill that allocated over $3 billion to the Justice Department for immigration-related activities, including the hiring of more immigration judges.
Mentally ill people are stuck in jail because they can’t get treatment. Here’s what’s to know
Hundreds of people across Alabama await a spot in the state’s increasingly limited facilities, despite a consent decree requiring the state to address delays in providing care for people who are charged with crimes but deemed too mentally ill to stand trial. But seven years since the federal agreement, the problem has only worsened.
Ivey appoints Will Parker to Alabama Supreme Court
Parker fills the court seat vacated by Bill Lewis who was tapped by President Donald Trump for a federal judgeship. The U.S. Senate last month confirmed Lewis as a U.S. district judge.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
Nonprofit erases millions in medical debt across Gulf South, says it’s ‘Band-Aid’ for real issue
Undue Medical Debt has paid off more than $299 million in medical debts in Alabama. Now, the nonprofit warns that the issue could soon get worse.
Roy Wood Jr. on his father, his son and his new book
Actor, comedian and writer Roy Wood Jr. is out with a new book -- "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." He writes about his experience growing up in Birmingham, losing his dad as a teenager and all the lessons he learned from various father figures throughout his career.
