The Trump administration has been firing immigration judges in waves.
One of those dismissed judges just recently filed a lawsuit against the administration, claiming discrimination, but that has not stopped Trump from moving forward with his plan.
In the last wave of firings, eight more judges were let go.
The firings by the administration started almost immediately after Trump took office, and they have continued right through November, with five more judges terminated right before Thanksgiving.
In February, 20 judges were let go without explanation.
This was happening even though there were nearly four million cases backlogged in the system.
Even I questioned why the firings were taking place at the time, wondering if this was just Trump wanting to appoint his own judges to oversee the immigration caseload or if he was trimming the budget. Or, as Democrats believed, perhaps Trump was slamming the brakes on the system so he could simply deport all of those seeking adjudication.
Tania Nemer was one of the many judges terminated by the administration, and she is now claiming she was subject to unlawful discrimination because she is a woman and a citizen of Lebanon (as well as of the United States).
Her attorneys, Nathaniel Zelinsky and James Eisenmann, claimed, “Title VII is unquestionably constitutional. The government cannot discriminate against its employees. Full stop. We look forward to pursuing Tania’s case in court.”
Since taking office, the Trump administration has fired nearly 15% of all immigration judges without offering an explanation.
When the Department of Justice was contacted for insight on the firings, it declined to comment.
Undaunted by the lawsuit, the Trump administration just fired eight more judges.
When you account for the resignations that have taken place since Trump took office, the staffing levels for judges in this department have been cut back by 25%.
According to the Department of Defense, there are plans to replace these judges with military attorneys, but so far, only 25 attorneys from the JAG office have completed the required training to fill these positions.
From the reports I have read, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth planned to send 600 attorneys to help process the backlog of immigration cases, so this is yet another blackeye for the Pentagon chief who is just getting pummeled in the media right now.
