The Trump administration is ratcheting up the pressure on immigration courts and judges as it moves toward further constricting the due process available for immigrants.

Court employees and judges at the San Francisco Immigration Court received a short email last week letting them know that their court will be shutting its doors by the end of the year. All personnel will be transferred to the Concord Immigration Court, about 30 miles away, according to the email sent by Teresa Riley, the chief immigration judge, and obtained by NPR.

The court’s closure comes as immigration judges spent the last year facing pressure to move through their caseloads faster and streamline deportations.

{snip}

San Francisco’s immigration court has been among those particularly hit by the Trump administration’s push to fire judges. According to a count kept by NPR, 12 judges and a court supervisor received termination notices last year. Several others retired or left, leaving the court with just four immigration judges and one supervisor to hear cases as of the beginning of this year — down from 21 at the start of 2025.

{snip}

Hiring more judges

EOIR is planning to bring on new classes of immigration judges at least every quarter to make up for those who were fired or left. But it’s unclear whether they would fully make up for the shortfalls.

The agency launched a new hiring campaign in November that seeks to recruit “deportation judges” — rather than “immigration judges.” The agency did not respond to questions over how many applications it has received in the first few months of the hiring campaign.

Fired judges also worry that the administration’s rounds of terminations favors those who had immigration defense experience. This, they said, gives the perception that immigration courts are favoring outcomes in line with President Trump’s goal of mass deportations.

{snip}

Immigration judges typically come from a variety of backgrounds, including immigration enforcement and immigration defense. But of the judges fired between February and October last year, most had experience in immigration defense, an NPR investigation found.

The DOJ also promoted 10 judges to be courthouse supervisors. An NPR analysis of those judge’s background and records show eight have prior experience working for the Homeland Security Department.

Temporary military judges brought in

The Trump administration has also moved forward with temporary judge positions. The Pentagon in September authorized up to 600 military lawyers from the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, or JAGs, to serve as temporary immigration judges. One class of 25 was already onboarded and a second was expected to begin their training as soon as this week, NPR has learned from two sources not permitted to speak publicly.

{snip}

The post Trump Administration to Shutter an Immigration Court, Adding to Judges’ Backlog appeared first on American Renaissance.