Trump administration fires 17 immigration court judges across 10 states

Seventeen immigration court judges have been fired in recent days according to the union that represents them as the Trump administration pushes forward with its mass deportations of immigrants in the countryThe International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers which represents immigration court judges as well as other professionals said in a news release that 15 judges were fired without cause on Friday and another two on Monday The union said they were working in courts in 10 different states across the country California Illinois Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts New York Ohio Texas Utah and VirginiaIts outrageous and against the public interest that at the same time Congress has authorised 800 immigration judges we are firing large numbers of immigration judges without cause said the unions President Matt Biggs This is nonsensical The answer is to stop firing and start hiringThe firings come as the courts have been increasingly at the centre of the Trump administrations hardline immigration enforcement efforts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arresting immigrants as they appear at court for proceedings A spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Immigration Review which is the part of the Justice Department that oversees the courts said in an email that the office would not comment on the firingsThe largescale arrests began in May and have unleashed fear among asylumseekers and immigrants appearing in court In what has become a familiar scene a judge will grant a government lawyers request to dismiss deportation proceedings against an immigrant Meanwhile US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are waiting in the hallway to arrest the person and put them on a fast track to deportation as soon as he or she leaves the courtroomImmigration court judges are also dealing with a massive backlog of roughly 35 million cases that ballooned in recent years Cases can take years to weave their way to a final determination with judges and lawyers frequently scheduling final hearings on the merits of a case over a year out Unlike criminal courts the government isnt required to provide lawyers to everyone going through immigration courts immigrants can hire their own lawyer but if they cant afford one they represent themselves often using an interpreter to make their caseDemocratic US Sen Dick Durbin of Illinois alleged that one of the judges fired was essentially being punished for talking to him during a visit the senator made a few weeks ago to the Chicago Immigration CourtIn a news release Tuesday Durbin said the judge took time to show me the court and explain its functions He said after the visit the judge received an email from the Justice Department telling her that all communications with congressional offices should be routed through headquarters and that immigration judges shouldnt be talking directly with members of CongressHer abrupt termination is an abuse of power by the Administration to punish a nonpolitical judge simply for doing her job said Durbin whos the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee Under recently passed legislation that will use USD 170 billion to supercharge immigration enforcement the courts are set to get an infusion of USD 33 billion That will go toward raising the number of judges to 800 and hiring more staff to support themBut the union said that since the Trump administration took office over 103 judges have either been fired or voluntarily left after taking what was dubbed the Fork in the Road offers at the beginning of the administration The union said that rather than speeding up the immigration court process the Justice Departments firings would actually make the backlogs worse The union said that it can take as long as a year to recruit hire and train new immigration court judges There are currently about 600 judges according to the union figures Immigration courts fall under the Justice DepartmentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever