Over the festive weekend meant for celebrating all things love, the Trump administration quietly fired twenty immigration judges.
“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,” Matthew Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers, told NBC News.
The immigration court system is already overwhelmed, with over 3.7 million pending cases, leading to years-long delays. The administration’s push to resolve cases faster has only increased pressure on immigration judges, despite bipartisan calls for more staffing.
Kerry Doyle, a recently appointed immigration judge, revealed on LinkedIn that she and other Biden-appointed judges received termination notices via email.
“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!” she wrote.
Meanwhile, leadership changes at the Executive Office of Immigration Review included replacing acting director Mary Cheng with Sirce Owen, who has introduced policies contradicting those of the Biden administration.
Over the weekend, the official White House twitter account shared message about its relentless push to deport immigrants, writing “Rose are red. Violets are blue. Come here illegally and we will deport you.”
