Toward the end of 2025, 90 immigration judges received termination notices, with a resulting 139 total departures. This sudden decrease in judges has led to a record backlog, with nearly 3.8 million immigration cases currently pending. The Department of Justice has been sending out notices to immigration judges and courts throughout the U.S, informing them that their court is being closed, but not explaining why.
At the end of September, over 3 million cases were pending. About two-thirds of individuals waiting are lacking legal representation. Despite the number of cases, judges kept receiving messages stating that their court would be shut down. These notices are being delivered with little to no explanation as to why they are being fired. Each letter contains only a few sentences, stating that the Attorney General has decided to remove them from their post, but they won’t provide a specific reason for their termination. Those 139 departures are made up of firings, resignations, and transfers.
Over the course of this year, there has been a significant jump in the number of immigration judges being fired in the United States. Starting in early February, 2025, the acting director, chief immigration judge, and other leaders at EOIR (Executive Office of Immigration Review) were fired. Then again in April, eight more judges were let go. Just recently, there was a mass increase in the number of judges being fired. Specifically, immigration judges. These firings have created a sense of fear for immigration judges in the U.S. These judges are fearing termination notices or reprisal, so they are scared to grant asylum.
One of the possible solutions was to call Congress and have them move immigration courts out of the executive branch to increase judicial independence and prevent political interference. The Temporary Judge Integrity Act was introduced as a way to ensure that judges have significant immigration law experience.
