AILA Executive Director: Trump Administration Further Erodes Immigration Courts

Press Releases

AILA Executive Director: Trump Administration Further Erodes Immigration Courts

9/2/25 AILA Doc. No. 25090212.

CONTACTS:
George Tzamaras 202-507-7649 [email protected]	Belle Woods 202-507-7675 [email protected]

Washington, DC -Today, less than a week after the Trump Administration issued a final rule eliminating the requirement that temporary immigration judges possess any knowledge of immigration law, Defense Secretary Hegseth approved using up to 600 military lawyers as temporary immigration judges. Ben Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), responded:

"If the warning signs weren't clear before, they should be now. In this latest destructive move to undermine the immigration courts, the Trump Administration is reviving a long-abandoned rule to allow temporary immigration judges with no background in immigration law. This is after firing well over 100 immigration judges since being sworn in. Now, Department of Defense (DoD) attorneys will be shifted to fill in as temporary immigration judges. While DoD attorneys may be well suited to handle military matters, immigration law is entirely different and exceptionally complex. It makes as much as sense as having a cardiologist do a hip replacement. "The work of immigration judges has been described as life and death decisions in traffic court conditions. Expecting fair decisions from judges unfamiliar with the law is absurd. This reckless move guts due process and further undermines the integrity of our immigration court system. Congress must act swiftly to use its oversight authority to defend the rule of law and protect the independence of the immigration judiciary."