Trump administration replaces fired Immigration Judges with Military Lawyers
SAN DIEGO — The Trump administration has begun assigning military lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges after dismissing dozens of existing judges — a move that experts warn could jeopardize both the integrity of the immigration court system and military justice.
According to internal communications reviewed by The Associated Press, about 100 Army Reserve lawyers will begin six-month stints on the immigration bench in an effort to ease a record-setting backlog of roughly 3.4 million pending cases. Training for the first group began Monday, with a second group slated to start this spring.
The administration’s long-term goal, according to officials familiar with the plan, is to deploy as many as 600 military-trained attorneys to help decide which immigrants may remain in the United States. The move comes as the administration intensifies immigration enforcement, triggering alarm among advocates and legal experts who say the plan blurs the line between military and civilian judicial systems.
“This assignment provides the opportunity to gain judicial experience in a high-tempo, nationally significant setting,” stated an email sent to members of the Army Reserve Legal Command. The message, dated Sept. 3, outlined that roughly 50 reserve lawyers will begin their court assignments immediately after completing training.
A subsequent notice sent Sept. 6 to active-duty and National Guard members sought volunteers for the temporary positions, saying ideal candidates would have experience in administrative or immigration law, or prior service as a military judge. The notice emphasized that applicants should demonstrate sound judgment, impartiality, and a temperament suited to the judicial role.
Both the Army and National Guard said they intend to fill the positions with volunteers.
Officials from the Defense Department did not respond to requests for comment. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which oversees the nation’s immigration courts, also declined to comment. In a written rule, however, EOIR noted that many successful immigration judges have previously had little or no experience in immigration law before taking the bench.
Legal experts and immigration advocates expressed deep concern that the deployment of military personnel to fill civilian judicial roles could erode due process.
“Immigration courts are already under extraordinary strain,” said one former immigration judge who requested anonymity to discuss the plan. “Bringing in military lawyers without adequate training or independence risks undermining confidence in the entire system.”
The immigration court backlog — which has more than doubled in the past four years — has become one of the most pressing challenges for federal immigration policy. Critics argue that replacing experienced judges with temporary military lawyers may address the numbers but not the quality or fairness of rulings.