A union that represents immigration judges is sounding the alarm that the exodus of immigration officials from the Trump administration could adversely impact millions of deportations.
Matt Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, told multiple media outlets that more than 100 immigration officials have either been laid off or have accepted deferred resignation or early retirement.
"How do you deport people without immigration judges?" Biggs asked ABC News. "It's highly hypocritical. It runs contrary to what [President Donald Trump] campaigned on. He's making it more difficult to deport people from this country. It makes no sense at all."
The New York Times, ABC News and Washington Examiner all reported that, overall, 85 employees, including 18 judges, accepted deferred resignation or early retirement from the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review — on top of the 29 previously laid off.
"Donald Trump ran for office promising to boost deportations, but as president, his administration's policies are actually decreasing the number of immigration judges and judge teams who hold deportation hearings," Biggs said in statements to the Times and Examiner.
The Times and Examiner also highlighted the backlog of more than 3.7 million cases, citing the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
"Immigration judges are hard to replace given their specialized knowledge and legal experience," Biggs told the outlets. "It takes at least a year to recruit, hire, train and conduct a background check on a new judge."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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