The Trump administration issued Friday a second round of layoffs affecting 15 immigration judges at the end of their two-year probationary period.
The layoffs came amid a growing backlog of cases stemming from President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, NPR reported Monday.
The report, citing two unnamed people familiar with the situation, stated 15 immigration judges learned via email that they would be put on leave and that their employment would end on July 22.
NPR reported that the layoffs were confirmed by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, a union that represents immigration judges.
"Pursuant to Article II of the Constitution, the Attorney General has decided not to extend your term or convert it to a permanent appointment," stated the email, sent to judges in Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, New York, and California, NPR reported.
Like the 50 other immigration judges let go in the previous six months, the judges notified Friday were given no reason for their termination, NPR reported. They were at the end of their two-year probationary period with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, or EOIR, which is part of the Department of Justice. Dozens of others took a voluntary resignation program aimed at reducing the size of the federal workforce.
The terminations came after Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which allocated more than $3 billion to DOJ for immigration-related activities, including hiring more immigration judges, according to NPR.
The funding and added personnel are aimed at alleviating the growing case backlog, which is nearly 4 million. Hiring and training new judges can take more than a year.
EOIR leadership has criticized judges for not efficiently managing their caseloads and has encouraged them to streamline asylum reviews and give oral, as opposed to written, decisions on case dismissals, NPR reported.
Trump has also supported a plan in Florida to deputize members of the state's National Guard Judge Advocate General's Corps as immigration judges.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both D-Mass., wrote to EOIR's acting director, Sirce Owen, on July 3 raising concerns that the removal of immigration judges was based on their political beliefs. They noted that 94% of immigration judges are typically converted to permanent positions after their probationary period.
At the start of the year, there were about 700 immigration judges covering 71 immigration courts and adjudication centers across the U.S., according to NPR. Such judges are the primary authorities who can revoke someone's green card and issue a final order of removal for people who have been in the country illegally for more than two years and are being deported.
Newsmax has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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