https://www.npr.org/2025/11/06/g-s1-96437/trump-immigration-judges-fired For three immigration judges, the day took a similar turn.
Kyra Lilien, who was hired in 2023, was presiding in a courtroom in Concord, Calif., in July when she paused the hearing of an immigrant seeking asylum to read an email.
"I told them that we were not going to have a hearing because I had just been fired," Lilien said. Present in the court was a court interpreter and an attorney for the Department of Homeland Security. "They asked me if I was joking."
Anam Petit, who was hired as an immigration judge in 2023 after a career in immigrant defense, was sitting on the bench in her courtroom in Virginia's Annandale Immigration Court in September. It was her two-year anniversary in the position and she was between hearings when she got the email.
"My voice was shaking. My hands were shaking. My mind was racing. And I gave the decision and I dismissed everyone without mentioning anything," Petit said. One decision that day was to deny asylum, and the other was a partial denial, each for a different member of one immigrant family, she recalled.
Tania Nemer was hired as a judge at the Cleveland immigration court in 2023. She had about 30 or 40 immigrants, a DHS attorney and staff in her court one morning in February. She had just finished explaining rights and responsibilities to the group when her door opened and her manager asked her to come with him. She was later escorted out of the building.
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"I didn't know at all why I was being fired at the time. And I kept asking; no one had a reason," Nemer said.
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An analysis of each of the 70 immigration judges' professional backgrounds found that judges with backgrounds defending immigrants, and no prior work history at DHS, made up about 44% of the firings — more than double the share of those who had only prior work history at DHS.
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Fired judges have been grasping at straws to understand why they were fired — some have filed Freedom of Information Act requests. Others have turned to wrongful termination complaints and lawsuits. Some worry they were targeted on the basis of protected classes, such as gender or race.
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There were 700 immigration judges at the start of the year. Over the past 10 months, EOIR has lost more than 125 judges to firings and voluntary resignations. Earlier this year, Republicans in Congress approved a spending bill that allocated over $3 billion to the Justice Department for immigration-related activities, including the hiring of more immigration judges, to address the backlog of millions of cases at immigration court.
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Levine said such motions should be granted if there is a change in the individual migrant's case, not a change in immigration policy.
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Earlier this year, Matthew O'Brien and David White, two of those judges let go under President Joe Biden, were reinstated at immigration courts in Virginia. O'Brien was brought back to a managerial position, as NPR previously reported — though he is no longer with EOIR. White is a judge at the Falls Church court.
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In recent years, immigration judges' backgrounds have varied. Many came to the position after several years working for ICE's legal branch. Others became judges after working for immigrant defense nonprofits or in private practice. Some have no immigration law experience, which was previously a requirement for temporary judges but not for permanent ones.
Anonymous
Just what we need, slower deportation processing.
socialist pheonic dies when i piss on its ashes
socialist pheonic dies when i piss on its ashes Fri 07 Nov 2025 10:59:11 No. 1455420 Report >>1455403 No. WE dont need immigration judges if we deport/imprison these criminals as soon as they're caught
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>>1455420 >WE dont need immigration judges if we deport/imprison these criminals as soon as they're caught Immigration judges process asylum claims. Immigrants can claim asylum as soon as or even before they are caught. It is illegal to deport asylum claimants before those claims are adjudicated.
Also deporting people as soon as they are caught is how you end up with a bunch of deported citizens.
Anonymous
>>1455424 sorry faggot if democrats can flood the country non stop ignoring all laws, then republicans can throw them out non stop ignoring all laws :D
Anonymous
>>1455425 Last I checked the only government officials involved in human trafficking were the Republican governors of Florida and Texas.
I'd ask you to show the specific actions Dems were taking, but to be frank, I know you can't.
And it doesn't really matter, nobody that calls for ignoring all laws ever cared about them in the first place. I'm not interested in pretextual arguments. I will say you should prepare for the consequences of the roads you go down, both from your side and mine. Live with them if you can.
Anonymous
>>1455428 didnt read i literally dont care what a traitor like you thinks who is silent when the country is flooded with the third world in a attempt to establish a one party dictatorship but is loud when they get removed. Go fuck your mother you traitor pig who votes against his own country and children
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>>1455430 Why donyou make it so obvious that you're neither white nor american. Now melt down again
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>>1455430 >One party dictatorships are bad...which is why we must establish a one party dictatorship to combat the party pushing for that Lmao
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>>1455425 What the fuck are you talking about?
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>>1455336 >after a career in immigrant defense Always kill the traitors first, jimbo.
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>>1455424 There are no valid asylum claims.
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>>1456219 This is what Stephen Miller actually believes.
