WATCH: Padilla Conducts Oversight at San Diego Immigration Court Amid Mass Judicial Firings

SAN DIEGO, CA - Following the Trump Administration's latest purge of nearly 20 immigration judges, including in California, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, visited the San Diego immigration court today to conduct oversight over the Trump Administration's mismanagement and dismantling of immigration courts to carry out its mass deportation agenda

President Trump has now removed approximately 100 immigration judges this year alone, and the Pentagon is now funneling hundreds of military attorneys to temporarily serve as immigration judges - dropping the requirement that judges have immigration experience - exacerbating a historic 3.4 million case backlog. San Diego's immigration courts have become extremely overwhelmed, struggling to balance an increasing caseload as President Trump slashes staff and pressures the Department of Justice to help meet deportation quotas. Trump's firings and recent retirements have left the city's main immigration court with only eight judges. As a result of the backlog, many San Diegans face postponed hearings, lengthy detention times, and delayed due process.

The visit comes after a gunman opened fire this morning on an ICE detention facility in Dallas, killing one detainee and leaving two others in critical condition.

"Today's horrific shooting at a Dallas ICE facility is a stark reminder: there is no place for political violence in America. We can and should debate our differences and fight for what we believe in - but violence, whether it's violence against law enforcement or violence against immigrants, is never the answer."

"I'm in San Diego today to conduct oversight of what is happening at our immigration courts because over the past few months, this Administration has made it harder for immigrants to have their day in court. They've fired a hundred immigration judges, fueling a case backlog in San Diego and across the country, and repeatedly ignored due process, indiscriminately deporting immigrants who are here to have their cases heard. I will continue to hold the Trump Administration accountable for their violations of due process and dismantling of our judicial system."

Immigration prosecutions now account for an estimated three quarters of all new federal cases in the Southern District of California. Since January, the number of local arrestees with no prior criminal charges or convictions has doubled to 72 percent. In attempts to boost deportation numbers, the Administration has started re-calendaring cases of long-term residents with no criminal history or prior deportations after their cases were previously considered "administratively closed." In July 2025, 2,958 of these cases were put back on the docket, a 750 percent increase from last year.

In June, Senator Padilla, Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and members of the San Diego Congressional delegation sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem expressing their concern over the deliberate targeting of immigrants trying to follow the legal process at courthouses, including at the San Diego Immigration Court that Padilla visited today located in the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building. The next month, Padilla, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) led 21 Senate Democrats in pressing the Trump Administration on its recent initiatives to weaponize immigration court hearings as an inhumane trap to arrest immigrants just trying to follow the law by terminating their immigration court cases and deporting them without adequate due process. Padilla also previously led a letter demanding an investigation on a cruel ICE raid in San Diego following reports that around 20 ICE agents detained four employees at Buona Forchetta and Enoteca Buona Forchetta restaurants.

Video of Senator Padilla's remarks today is available here and can be downloaded here.

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