Immigration Law
DOJ swears in largest-ever class of new immigration judges
The Trump administration onboarded last week a record-setting class of new federal immigration judges, officials at the Department of Justice announced. (Image from Shutterstock)
The Trump administration onboarded last week a record-setting class of new federal immigration judges, officials at the Department of Justice announced.
The DOJ swore in 77 permanent immigration judges and five temporary immigration judges. The appointments raise the total number of judges to close to 700, reversing a decline after more than 100 were fired since early 2025. DOJ officials said the new judges will help address a backlog of cases.
The DOJ oversees the U.S. immigration court system. Immigration judges decide whether noncitizens the government is seeking to deport should be removed from the U.S. or be allowed to stay.
Most of the new immigration judges had previously worked as lawyers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prosecutors or in the military. Some of the other new judges previously worked as state or local judges or as lawyers in private practice, according to a story by CBS News.
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