Donald Trump’s administration gave a new step in its immigration hardening strategy by incorporating the largest promotion of immigration judges in the recent history of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The measure seeks to accelerate deportation processes and reduce the enormous backlog accumulated in the country’s immigration courts.
According to CBS Files, 77 permanent immigration judges and five temporary judges were sworn in this week, amid pressure from the Republican government to reinforce its policy of mass deportations.
The announcement comes in a context of increasing immigration operations, restrictions on asylum and new measures promoted by the White House to strengthen border control and expedite expulsions of immigrants without gorgeous status.
“President Trump is committed to restoring the rule of law in the immigration system,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in an official statement released after the swearing-in ceremony in Washington, DC.
Immigration courts under pressure
Immigration courts across the country are currently facing a historical accumulation of cases. According to official data cited by the Department of Justice, the backlog exceeded 4 million files, driven mainly by the increase in asylum applications and border crossings registered in recent years.
The Trump administration assures that the incorporation of new judges will reduce waiting times and accelerate deportation resolutions.
Federal officials indicated that the number of pending cases would have already decreased to about 3.5 million since January 2025, although immigrant advocacy organizations question the way many files are being processed.
Immigration judges are responsible for deciding whether a person can legally remain in the United States or whether they should be deported. Although they bear the title of judges, They are actually part of the executive branch and report directly to the Department of Justice.
This detail has generated strong criticism among lawyers and immigration organizations, who consider that The Trump administration is using the courts as immigration enforcement tools.
Criticism of “deportation judges”
One of the aspects that has generated the most controversy is that the federal government began to publicly refer to these officials as “deportation judges” in official job offers.
For activists and immigration specialists, that language reflects an attempt to direct immigration courts toward faster and more severe decisions against immigrants.
Greg Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), accused the government of pressuring judges to act as “instruments of law enforcement” and not as impartial arbiters.
“The Trump administration is trying to turn immigration courts into pieces of its mass deportation campaign,” Chen stated.
Criticism also increased after The administration fired more than 100 immigration judges during the last yearseveral of them appointed during the Joe Biden government.
Some of the removed judges assured that They were separated for not promoting deportations quickly enough or for having previous experience defending immigrants.
More deportations and fewer asylum options
In addition to the increase in judges, the aforementioned media indicated that the Department of Justice has issued new guidelines that limit the possibilities of obtaining asylumreduce options for release on bail and tighten the criteria to remain legally in the country while an immigration case is resolved.
Most of The new judges incorporated previously worked as ICE lawyers, federal prosecutors or members of the armed forces, according to official biographies published by the government.
For immigration experts, the strategy is part of the Trump’s broader opinion to speed up deportations before millions of pending cases continue to grow in the courts.
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