Trump fires 20 immigration judges while deportations are ’priority‘

A union official on 16 February, Saturday, said the Trump administration had fired 20 immigration judges over the Valentine's Day weekend without any explanation amid moves to downsize the federal government.

The Guardian reported Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers — which represents federal workers — saying that on Friday, 14 February, 13 judges who had yet to be sworn in and 5 assistant chief immigration judges were dismissed without notice. Two other judges were fired under similar circumstances in the last week.

“You have a president now who campaigned on immigration and removing people from the country, on the one hand. And on the other hand, he’s actually firing the very judges that have to hear these cases and make those decisions. So, it makes no sense. It’s a head scratcher,” Biggs told NBC News.

With over 3.7 million pending cases, the immigration court system is already overwhelmed, resulting in years-long delays on reviews. The Trump administration’s push to resolve cases faster has only increased pressure on immigration judges, despite bipartisan calls for more staffing.

The US has meanwhile started deporting illegal immigrants shackled in chains on US military aircraft.

Kerry Doyle, a recently appointed immigration judge, revealed on LinkedIn — in a post no longer available — that she and other Biden-appointed judges received termination notices via email. The screenshot is attached below.

The Republicans have long had beef with prior POTUS Joe Biden, who in June 2024 had actually offered legal status to 5,00,000 immigrants. And these hapless newer immigration judges were brought on board by his administration technically.

However, many argued the new dispensation’s strategy was broken.

‘This firing occurred despite the fact that the Immigration Court currently has in the neighborhood of 3.5 MILLION pending cases and DOJ is asking Congress for more money to hire more people at EOIR!’ Doyle charged.

There have been changes in leadership roles at the Executive Office of Immigration Review, certainly. Acting director Mary Cheng is replaced by Sirce Owen, who introduced policies contradicting those of the Biden administration. 

Over the weekend, the official White House Instagram account wished illegal immigrants a happy Valentine's Day with the message ‘Roses are red / Violets are blue / Come here illegally / And we will deport you.‘