As the Trump Administration continues its attacks against the immigrant community, there remains one critical defense against these unprecedented assaults on the Constitution and American ideals: judges.
The job of immigration judges, who are considered employees of the U.S. Department of Justice, is simple: preside over administrative hearings to decide whether a non-citizen should be allowed to remain in the U.S. or be removed. They interpret and apply immigration laws and regulations to cases involving charges from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) — which U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operates under — of violating immigration law. Judges also hear testimony, review evidence and rule on applications for immigration benefits, such as asylum or green cards.
Immigration judges are appointed by the Attorney General after a competitive application, rigorous evaluation and interview process conducted by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). Unlike judges who work under Article III of the Constitution, immigration justices are hired directly by the EOIR and do not require Senate confirmation. Under “normal” circumstances, immigration judges don’t undergo partisan scrutinization — they are employed based on their merit and legal experience to ensure qualified candidates are selected to serve in these critical roles.
However, these aren’t “normal” times we’re living in. Since Donald Trump was sworn into office on Jan. 20, a significant faction of all the immigration justices across the nation have been fired from their positions. In 2024, the total number of immigration judges was around 700. Since the beginning of 2025, more than 125 immigration judges have been fired or resigned since the start of 2025, according to reports from NPR, CapRadio and the American Immigration Council.
Just last month, 20 immigration judges received emails this month informing them that they are being let go. Some say this move appears to contradict the Trump Administration’s claimed prioritization on immigration enforcement. Administration officials countered the judges targeted have not managed mounting caseloads effectively.
JJ Mulligan, an immigration attorney at the UC Davis Immigration Law Clinic, told CAP Radio in California a lot of the targeted justices were appointed under President Joe Biden and were nearing the end of their two-year probationary period. According to him, this will only make it more difficult for immigrants to stay in the U.S.
“If you think about this in the criminal court context, imagine someone going without a public defender and the prosecutor saying, ‘This guy’s guilty of so and so crime,’ and the judge is just going along with whatever the prosecutor says,” Mulligan stressed. “You can imagine how many people in criminal court would be going to jail or pleading out to these terrible charges even if they’re innocent just because they don’t know anything about the legal system.”
Another issue with the firing of justices is the impact it will have on the ability to handle these cases in a timely manner. NPR followed Chelmsford Immigration Court, located just outside of Boston, which has become one of the most understaffed courts in the country in the Trump second term. Attorney Stephen Born, who often argues cases for clients at Chelmsford, told NPR his clients are already being impacted. Some clients have waited for more than a decade for their right to their day in court, and now, Born says that opportunity is being ripped away.
“So the little light at the end of the tunnel for these people who have been following the American dream and playing by all the rules is increasingly being snuffed,” he said.
The most recent wave of terminations followed the passage of a major congressional spending package that designated more than three billion USD for immigration-related operations within the Justice Department. This funding includes resources to expand the number of immigration judges, with the goal of reducing the massive backlog of nearly four million pending cases. However, bringing new judges on board and preparing them for the role can take over a year.
In recent months, leadership at the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has expressed concerns over how judges are handling their caseloads. They’ve urged adjudicators to make their asylum rulings more efficient, including favoring oral decisions for dismissing cases rather than issuing written ones.
What’s the Trump administration’s goal here? If their goal is to deport as many illegal immigrants as possible, why would they fire the judges who could potentially help speed up that process?
The answer can be found in the pages of Project 2025. In the Mandate for Leadership published by the Heritage Foundation, it lays out a blueprint for exploiting the presidential powers to use the military to take over certain government functions and domestic law enforcement. This includes the use of the military for immigration enforcement, such as using military personnel and equipment to block crossings at the U.S. border. Trump has also suggested on his own he would also be interested in weaponizing the military to enforce immigration laws.
Has this happened yet?
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting The American People Against Invasion,” which significantly revokes previous immigration policies and increases cooperation between ICE and other federal agencies. The executive order specifically mandates ICE to increase the number of agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies under the 287(g) program “to the maximum extent permitted by law.” The 287(g) program delegates federal immigration enforcement authority to local law enforcement officers.
Trump has also deployed the military to U.S. cities — such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. — to “restore law and order,” but many say it for what this is: an overstretch of executive power and weaponizing the military against the country’s own citizens.
Around 600 military attorneys were recently approved in September by the Department of War, formerly the Department of Defense, to serve as temporary immigration judges. The Justice Department also revised eligibility criteria for these temporary positions, easing previous requirements and no longer mandating prior immigration law experience.
Project 2025 — the very same plan Trump claimed to know nothing about — is being followed step by step for all of the world to see. This isn’t what makes America great — this is what makes America fall.