politics
Justice Department Swears In Record 82 Immigration Judges
The Department of Justice swore in 82 new immigration judges this week, the largest class in the agency's history. The hires follow the removal of more than 100 judges over the past year and come as the administration works to reduce a backlog of 3.5 million pending cases.
May 21, 1:55 PM·1m read2 sources
Washington ExaminerAudio version
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Officials said Thursday. The class includes 77 permanent judges and five temporary judges, the largest single group ever onboarded by the Executive Office for Immigration Review. The new judges bring the total immigration judge corps back near 700 members after the number fell below 600 earlier this year.
Most of the incoming judges previously worked as Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyers, prosecutors, or military officers.
53 million. Justice Department officials said reducing the backlog remains one of the department's highest priorities. The administration has hired 153 permanent immigration judges in fiscal year 2026, which began in October 2025. Officials described the effort as the sharpest decrease in caseload in the agency's history.
House border czar Tom Homan said earlier this week that 800,000 illegal immigrants have been removed from the United States since the start of the current term. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and federal partners have also arrested more than 641,000 illegal immigrants over the past 16 months.
The Justice Department has issued directives that restrict when immigration judges can grant asylum or release people from detention on bond. Some judges removed in the past year said they believe they were ousted for not pushing deportations aggressively enough.
" — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, May 2026 (Washington Examiner) Greg Chen, senior director for government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the job listings show immigration courts are controlled by the President and used to execute the mass deportation campaign.
Immigration judges are employees of the Justice Department rather than the independent judicial branch. They decide whether noncitizens facing removal should be deported or allowed to stay. The backlog of millions of cases has created years-long waits for decisions on asylum and other relief. Officials said the new judges will help move deportation cases through the system more quickly.
