‘Illogical and costly setback’: Trump administration fires immigration judges, then wonders why the backlog is getting worse

The Trump administration is at it again, and this time, it’s making some seriously questionable moves that have a lot of people scratching their heads. Nearly 20 more immigration judges were fired this month, bringing the total number of judges cut by the administration to over 80 this year alone. We’re talking about courts in major cities like New York and Los Angeles, and states like Florida, Maryland, and Washington, that have all been affected by this latest round of terminations.

It’s a pretty big deal, and if you’re keeping track of the government’s efforts to handle immigration, this is a huge change. This most recent wave of firings is part of a larger trend we’ve seen all year. According to NPR, just a few weeks ago, five other judges were also let go, and back in February, an even larger group of two dozen immigration judges were terminated right before their first day on the job.

It’s a pretty aggressive approach, and it comes at a time when the administration is trying to increase the number of deportations. The thing is, immigration judges are the ones who can actually approve or deny a final order of deportation, so the two goals seem to be at odds with each other.

Less judges that know what they’re doing, and more that are only loyal to Trump

The administration’s official line is that these judges haven’t been managing their growing caseloads effectively. They’ve also mentioned that they’ve taken steps to streamline the process for adjudicating cases, like encouraging judges to give oral instead of written decisions on case dismissals and to streamline asylum reviews.

On the other hand, immigration advocates are calling this a major setback. They argue that the high priority on enforcement is hurting the already limited due process that immigrants receive, because the judges who are fired are either not replaced at all or are replaced by judges with no immigration experience who are loyal to Trump. This is made worse when you think about how ICE has a blatant disregard for the rules of law.

This whole situation gives you a peek into just how complicated the Trump administration’s efforts to lower illegal immigration and deport millions of undocumented people really are. The union representing these judges, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), has been bracing for these cuts for a while now, especially since the end of the two-year probationary period for many of the judges was this month.

Still, not all of the judges fired this year were at the end of their probation, which has created a pretty serious culture of fear among employees. To be fair, some employees also voluntarily resigned under a program called the “Fork in the Road,” which was introduced after President Trump took office to reduce the size of the federal workforce.

It’s clear that this is an “illogical and costly setback,” as IFPTE President Matt Biggs put it. In a statement, he told NPR, “At a time when the backlog has reached historic levels and the administration has made immigration enforcement a central issue, the removal of experienced judges is hypocritical, undermines the law, wastes taxpayer dollars, and further delays justice for citizens and immigrants alike.” The numbers back this up, too. In the last nine months, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has lost more than 125 judges, both from firings and voluntary resignations, down from about 700 judges at the start of the year.