Two Former Probationary Immigration Judges Sue Trump Administration After Being Dismissed

Two former immigration judges have sued President Trump's administration over their removal from the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review. Carla Espinoza, a former immigration judge in Chicago, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday. She was appointed as an immigration judge in August 2023 and was dismissed in August 2025.

Espinoza alleges she was fired based on her previous work as an immigration lawyer, her race, and her sex. Kyra Lilien filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last week. Appointed as an immigration judge in 2023, she oversaw cases at the Concord Immigration Court in California before her position ended in 2025.

Both women were in temporary probationary periods at the time of their dismissals. The two former immigration judges allege they were discriminated against for political affiliation, sex, race, and past association with immigrant advocacy groups. Their complaints state that the DOJ had a policy and custom that upon the completion of a temporary term, the agency would routinely convert that probationary judge's status to permanent immigration judge.

At least 113 immigration judges have been fired amid Trump's second term, according to the National Association of Immigration Judges. Espinoza is one of those 113, @ABC reported. DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review began issuing memos in early 2025 that characterized immigrant advocacy organizations as extremist.

The same memos promised to penalize illegal DEI preferences. The federal government began issuing numerous memoranda announcing the end to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts. One memorandum stated that the Agency had reviewed the hiring materials of all Immigration Judges hired under the prior administration and alleged that persons of certain backgrounds were given favorable treatment over others.

The memorandum concluded that EOIR was committed to rectifying those harms. Espinoza alleges in the complaint that following policy shifts, the federal government chose to fire from EOIR a disproportionate number of women, people of color, ethnic minorities, and persons associated therewith.

Together, the memoranda laid bare management’s hostility to hiring individuals with immigrants’ rights backgrounds, women, ethnic minorities, and others who may be considered DEI hires, Lilien’s attorneys said in the complaint.

— Kyra Lilien complaint ABC News has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment. The lawsuits come after the Executive Office for Immigration Review began issuing the memos in early 2025 that set the new policy direction.