Full Breakdown
Trump Administration Swears In Record Class of Immigration Judges
5/22/2026, 4:19:53 AM
Mass Hiring of Immigration Judges to Accelerate Deportations
The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that 77 permanent and five temporary immigration judges were sworn in during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., bringing the total number of judges in the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) to nearly 700. The administration describes the influx as the largest class of immigration judges in agency history and frames it as a step toward “restoring the rule of law” in the immigration system.
Background & Context
When President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, the immigration judge corps had fallen below 600 after a purge of more than 100 judges in the previous year. The administration has paired the staffing increase with directives that sharply limit asylum grants and bond releases for detainees. The move follows a broader effort to reduce a backlog that once exceeded four million pending cases.
Key Figures & Groups
- Todd Blanche, Acting U.S. Attorney General, delivered the administration’s official remarks.
- Tom Homan, White House border czar, promoted the broader deportation agenda.
- Greg Chen, senior director for government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), voiced organized-lawyer opposition.
- Sirce Owen, then acting director of EOIR, issued internal memos guiding judges toward faster case dismissal.
- Agencies involved include the DOJ, EOIR, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Department of Defense, which supplied the five temporary military judges.
Data & Statistics
- New hires: 77 permanent, 5 temporary (total 82).
- Judge corps size: ~700, up from <600 earlier in 2025.
- Judges removed since 2025: >100 (reports vary between “more than 100” and “115”).
- Pending cases: reduced from ~4 million to between 3.5 million and 3.53 million.
- Reported removals: 800,000 individuals deported; self-removals cited as an additional, unquantified figure.
- FY 2026 hires: 153 permanent judges, the highest annual total on record.
Why It Matters
The expanded bench is intended to speed removal orders, which are prerequisite to deportations, and to shrink the case backlog that has delayed asylum and removal decisions for years. Critics argue that staffing the courts predominantly with former ICE lawyers, prosecutors, and military officers may tilt adjudication toward enforcement rather than neutral review, potentially limiting relief for noncitizens.
Official Statements & Responses
The DOJ emphasized that the hiring surge aligns with its priority to cut the immigration court backlog and to “reestablish an immigration judge corps dedicated to restoring the rule of law.” Blanche credited President Trump’s “decisive leadership and commitment to securing our borders” for the achievement. The administration also highlighted the temporary judges from the Department of Defense as a flexible resource to address staffing gaps.
Criticism & Opposition
AILA’s Greg Chen accused the administration of “compelling immigration judges to act as tools of enforcement, not impartial adjudicators,” and warned that the “deportation judge” job listings undermine judicial independence. Legal scholars and advocacy groups have raised concerns that the rapid hiring of judges with enforcement backgrounds could erode the courts’ capacity to grant asylum or other relief, especially given recent EOIR memos urging dismissal of asylum claims and threatening disciplinary action for perceived bias.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Sources differ on the exact number of judges removed (reported as “more than 100” versus “115”) and on the current backlog figure (3.5 million vs. 3.53 million). The extent to which self-removals contribute to the total deportation count remains unspecified. Data on how the new judges’ decisions will affect asylum grant rates are not yet available.
Verbatim Quotes
- “This could only happen thanks to President Trump’s decisive leadership and commitment to securing our borders.” — Todd Blanche, Acting U.S. Attorney General
- “committed to reestablishing an immigration judge corps that is dedicated to restoring the rule to the law in our nation's immigration system.” — Todd Blanche
- “act as tools of enforcement, not impartial adjudicators.” — Greg Chen, AILA
- “I was a part of the plan from the very beginning that sent a message to the whole world that there’s no free ride here anymore,” — Tom Homan, Border Czar
- “deliver justice” to “criminal illegal aliens.” — Language from the administration’s job listings for immigration judges
- “Judges who would prefer to be policy advocates favoring either aliens or DHS should consider transitioning to alternate career paths,” — Sirce Owen, Acting EOIR Director
What’s Next
The DOJ plans to continue hiring to maintain the near-700-judge roster and to further reduce the pending caseload. Ongoing litigation challenging the administration’s asylum-restriction directives and the independence of the immigration courts may shape future staffing and procedural policies.
