The union said judges hear between 500 and 700 cases a year, and that shootings will only be added to the backlog of more than 3.5 million cases.
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The Justice Department recently fired more than 12 immigration court judges across the country, according to the union representing them.
The firing of 17 immigration judges from July 11th to July 15th to 15th will come as the Trump administration appears to detain and deport domestic immigrants. The judges were in federal courts in 10 states, including California, Louisiana, New York and Texas, according to the International Federation of Professional Engineers, which represents immigrant judges.
“This is pointless,” union president Matt Biggs said in a statement. “The answer is to stop the shooting and start hiring.”
A union spokesman said all 17 people had been fired for no reason. Biggs said there are around 600 judges remaining, which fall under the Department of Justice’s Enforcement Bureau for immigration review.
A spokesman for the Enforcement Bureau for Immigration Review declined to comment.
The immigration court has a backlog of more than 3.6 million cases, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonprofit data research center at Syracuse University. As immigrants navigate complex legal systems, it often takes years to final decisions on whether people can remain in the country without legal representation.
The Immigration Examination Enforcement Bureau will win a $3.3 billion lump sum payment through the recent federal spending law signed by President Donald Trump, according to the U.S. Immigration Council. This will limit the office to 800 immigration judges. This has dramatically increased Congressional spending, dramatically increasing to detain and deport people, with nearly $171 billion allocated to the law.
“Instead of accelerating immigration rulings, the actions of the Department of Justice and (the Immigration Examination and Enforcement Bureau) are wasting taxpayer dollars by exacerbating the backlog and destroying judicial independence,” Biggs said.
Immigration courts are facing an increase in surveillance as immigrants seeking to attend regular hearings are being held from entering and leaving the court by masked agents. They are at the heart of protests across the country, including in Los Angeles and New York.
Since May, immigration rights advocates and observers pointed out that the judge has approved an motion to dismiss the deportation case by government lawyers, and agents have detained the migrants after proceedings. The immigrants are currently in detention and will then be quickly tracked and removed from the country.
A spokesman for the union said most of the 17 judges fell into two classes that were on probation period ending mid- to late July, but some were employed for many years.
Since Trump took office in January, more than 100 judges and administrative level judges have been fired and voluntarily left and transferred from immigration court after receiving notifications for “forks on the road,” the alliance said.
The union said it would take at least a year to recruit, hire and train new judges. They hear between 500 and 700 cases each year, and layoffs are only added to the backlog, the union said.
Eduardo Quebus is based in New York City. Contact him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or by signalling emcuevas.01.
