WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration has removed more than 200 immigration judges through firing, forced retirement, or other pressure over the past 14 months, as part of an expanded deportation enforcement effort. Immigration courts, which handle an estimated 3.5 million cases across more than 60 locations, are part of the Department of Justice in the executive branch, not the judicial branch.

At an Oct. 27, 2024 campaign rally, Donald Trump said, "On Day One, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history." After beginning his second term, Trump dispatched troops and armed ICE agents to carry out arrests and detentions, primarily in blue states. Defending the approach, Trump said, "We need judges that are not going to be demanding trials for every single illegal immigrant. We have millions of people that have come in here illegally, and we can't have a trial for every single person. That would be millions of trials."

The number of immigration judges has decreased by approximately 100 to 125 from around 600. Ryan Wood, a former assistant chief immigration judge in the Midwest who retired a little more than a year ago after being appointed during Trump's first term, said the administration's goal was clear. "Zero doubt, they want numbers, they want deportations. They want to keep as many people detained as possible, and stress the system," Wood said.

Wood described abrupt removals of sitting judges. "I have seen judges that have not made it very long in this new regime, where they've been walked off the bench for whatever reasons. They're in the middle of dictating an oral decision and they get an email, or they get a tap on the shoulder, literally on the bench, saying, 'Please come with me,'" he said. Asked whether he had seen anything comparable before, Wood said, "No, never. We've never seen anything like this."

Anam Petit, who left a job as a law partner to become an immigration judge in Annandale, Virginia, was fired in September of last year. "It was a dream job for me in a lot of ways. I made personal and professional sacrifices to take that job, because I believed I could be a good and fair judge," Petit said. "All my probationary reviews were positive, and no reason was given for my dismissal," she said.

In December, a Department of Homeland Security recruitment ad featured the fictional character Judge Dredd with the text: "Deliver justice to criminal illegal aliens. Become a deportation judge. Save your country." A Justice Department website page titled "You be the judge" promotes a salary of up to over $200,000 per year for "deportation judges" and a 25% bonus for taking a job in a "sanctuary city." The administration has recruited more than 70 such judges, most from enforcement backgrounds with little or no immigration experience. The Secretary of Defense authorized sending military lawyers known as JAGs to serve as temporary immigration judges for six-month rotations.

"Immigration law is extremely complex. It's only rivaled by the tax code in complexity. It takes a year or two to really get up to speed and to understand the law and how to make good, fair decisions," Wood said. The New York Attorney General's Office has asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to block ICE from detaining immigrants inside courthouses during immigration court hearings. About 60,000 people are currently being held in U.S. detention.