President Donald Trump's newly appointed chief immigration judge said that as many as 25 million to 30 million people are in the United States illegally, far exceeding official estimates.
He said that's important as the administration accelerates efforts to reduce a 3.6 million-case backlog in immigration courts.
"The reality is, we will never have enough judges to handle currently 3.6-plus million cases, and I believe 25 to 30 million people ... are here in the United States illegally," Executive Office for Immigration Review Director Daren Margolin told Axios.
Margolin, a retired Marine Corps colonel, officially took leadership of the organization, the Justice Department office that oversees the immigration court system, in October.
He told Axios he retired as an immigration judge in early 2024 because of his opposition to the Biden administration's handling of the surge at the southern border.
"Personally, I felt like a co-conspirator in treason," Margolin said.
The next phase of the administration's mass deportation effort is expected to focus on immigration courts, where an estimated 3.6 million cases remain pending.
Speeding court rulings could allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to carry out more deportations, since most cases end in final removal orders.
According to data shared with Axios, the backlog declined by 341,006 cases between Trump's inauguration last year and Jan. 30.
One factor was a decline in new cases tied to lower border crossings during Trump's first year back in office.
Margolin is also seeking to limit the appeals process for removal orders, a step that could increase the number of people eligible for expedited deportation.
The office has received about 1,700 applications after a public recruitment campaign for new immigration judges. Margolin declined to say how many applicants have been hired but said the first group will begin work within days.
He has also brought on roughly 50 temporary military attorneys, known as Judge Advocate General officers, who undergo the same six to eight weeks of training as other hires.
Before leading EOIR, Margolin served from 2020-24 as an assistant chief immigration judge in California and previously worked as an assistant chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Adelanto, California.
He spent more than two decades in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving as a military judge, a prosecutor, an appellate prosecutor, a defense counsel, and a staff judge advocate for multiple Marine commands, according to his Justice Department profile.
Official estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population, including Department of Homeland Security data from 2022 and Pew Research Center analysis from 2023, place the figure at roughly half of Margolin's estimate.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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