The Trump administration has fired more than 100 immigration judges and hired more than 140 replacements as it seeks to reduce a backlog of more than 3 million cases and advance its goal of deporting 1 million immigrants a year, according to a new report by The Washington Post.
Many of the new hires have no stated background in immigration law and are receiving less training than previous judicial classes, raising concerns among former judges and immigration advocates about the independence of the courts.
"They're trying to create a malleable workforce that will do what they want without question," said Kerry Doyle, a former ICE official hired as an immigration judge under President Joe Biden and fired before she could begin hearing cases. "That's what I think the goal is," he told The Washington Post.
The news site found that two-thirds of the newly appointed judges had no immigration law experience listed in their online biographies, while only 24% had worked for DHS, ICE or the immigration courts. The National Association of Immigration Judges said training has been reduced from nearly five weeks to three.
The firings began on the first day of Trump's second term and included senior officials at the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Justice Department agency that oversees immigration courts. Dozens of judges were later fired in cities including Hartford, Chicago, San Francisco and New York.
The overhaul comes as the administration has issued policies making it harder for immigrants to prevail in court. Judges have been refusing bond hearings, dismissing cases at the government's request so defendants can be arrested, and receiving guidance to grant asylum more sparingly.
Asylum rejections more than doubled from 2024 to 2025, while approval rates fell below 5% in February, compared with 48% during the same month in 2024, according to TRAC data cited by the Post.
EOIR Director Daren K. Margolin defended the hires, saying the agency remains committed to reducing the backlog and that new judges have sworn to decide cases "based on the law."
But critics say the pressure extends beyond judges. A federal judge in Guam recently rejected the administration's attempt to sanction immigration attorney Joshua Schroeder over filings that briefly delayed a deportation, marking a setback for a broader push to penalize lawyers challenging federal immigration actions.
Other judges have described a climate of fear. "All of us are looking over our shoulders," Texas-based immigration judge and union president Holly D'Andrea told The New York Times in a recent report
Muzaffar A. Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute warned the changes risk undermining faith in the system. "It sends a message that: Don't trust these courts," he said.
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