The Trump administration is looking to recruit so-called “deportation judges” to carry out his aggressive immigration enforcement agenda after dozens of immigration judges have been fired or forced during the first ten months of his term.
On Tuesday, the Department of Justice posted an ad on social media. “The last administration left us with an immigration crisis. Help President Trump solve it! Become a Deportation Judge today,” it read.
The Justice Department — which oversees the nation’s immigration court system — included a link describing the positions, which are both in-person and remote.
Judges will “make decisions with generational consequences,” the website states. They will also ensure “that only aliens with legally meritorious claims are allowed to remain” and that “those seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in our immigration system are not successful.”
There are openings at 70 locations in the U.S., where judges can earn between $159,951 and $207,500 per year.
The government’s application portal lists the positions as immigration judges, not deportation judges. It notes that candidates must have J.D., LL.B or LL.M. degrees as well as adjudication experience. However, it does not specifically say this experience must be in the area of immigration law.
It’s not the first time such an ad has been made.
In late November, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem took to social media, writing: “If you are a legal professional, the Trump Administration is calling on YOU to join @TheJusticeDept as a Deportation Judge to restore integrity and honor to our Nation’s Immigration Court system.”
Immigration judges serve a crucial role in overseeing the millions of migrants processed through the legal system. Asylum seekers and immigrants appear before them in order to plead their cases for protection or to protest removal to their native countries. Judges have recently become inundated with huge quantities of asylum claims, resulting in record-large backlogs, following a surge in border crossings under former President Joe Biden.
The Trump administration — which has vowed to undertake the largest deportation program in American history — has purged the already small pool of immigration judges, dismissing or pushing out around 100 since January, The Independent previously reported.
On December 1, at least eight immigration judges in New York City were let go, according to a union that represents them. And last month, five judges were fired in San Francisco without any explanation. Dozens of others have resigned or retired.
The flurry of exits has reduced the number of immigration judges from 715 to about 600, marking a 16 percent decrease in less than one year.
A representative for Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent. A spokesperson previously told the outlet that the agency does not “target” judges “one way or the other based on personal criteria or a judge’s perceived views.”
In order to help replenish the diminished bench, the administration has relaxed the criteria required for immigration judges.
In September the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review authorized the hiring of “any attorney” to temporarily serve as an immigration judge — even those lacking experience in this field, The Independent previously reported.
In response, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved sending around 600 military lawyers to the Department of Justice to help fill courts across the U.S.
The office has also instructed judges to grant motions from government attorneys to immediately dismiss immigrants’ cases, paving the way for them to face speedy deportations.
These changes have resulted in immigrants requesting relief to be hauled off by federal agents immediately after their hearings.
The White House has lauded the push for more immigration judges, with one official telling the Associated Press in September that the matter should be “a priority that everyone — including those waiting for adjudication — can rally around.”
But some legal experts have pushed back against filling immigration courts with individuals lacking relevant experience.
“The work of immigration judges has been described as life and death decisions in traffic court conditions,” Ben Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, previously told The Independent. “Expecting fair decisions from judges unfamiliar with the law is absurd.”
