PHOENIX — The Justice Department is taking steps to address immigration judges perceived as slow or non-compliant with the law, according to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. This initiative is part of the Trump administration’s strategy to overhaul the court system and tackle the daunting backlog of 3.7 million cases, aligning with its broader agenda to expedite deportations.
Blanche spoke at the Border Security Expo in Phoenix, an annual event that attracts key immigration officials, law enforcement personnel, and business representatives engaged with federal contracts. His participation underscores the administration’s strong focus on immigration and border security issues.
Since assuming leadership of the Justice Department following Pam Bondi’s departure last month, Blanche has offered some of his most comprehensive insights on the intended reforms for immigration courts in a discussion with The Associated Press post-conference.
“Judges must adhere to their oath and cannot base decisions on mere sympathy or personal preference,” Blanche emphasized in his remarks.
“If judges are failing to apply the law correctly, causing undue delays, or contributing to unacceptable backlogs, we intend to replace them with individuals who will address these issues effectively,” he continued.
The Trump administration’s prioritization of mass deportations has spurred a government-wide initiative to meet its ambitious objectives. This includes intensified actions against migrants in urban areas, expansion of detention facilities, and bolstering the ranks of immigration officers.
While the Department of Homeland Security is the Cabinet agency most directly responsible for carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, immigration courts, a key aspect of the immigration system, falls under the Justice Department.
Dozens of immigration judges have been removed from their jobs during Trump’s second term, with critics saying they were targeted because they were approving too many asylum cases. The administration has also directed masked officers to handcuff migrants at closed asylum hearings and sent memos instructing judges to fall into line. Many migrants and their advocates say that immigration courts have increasingly become traps: they show up for routine hearings only to face arrest.
Unlike federal courts, where there are strict rules of procedure and judges have lifetime tenure, the Justice Department runs immigration courts and the attorney general can fire the judges with fewer restraints.
But critics take issue with how the administration is remaking the immigration courts.
“Unfortunately, the Trump Administration is systematically dismantling due process protections in U.S. immigration courts, prioritizing speed and enforcement over fairness, accuracy, and fundamental justice,” the American Immigration Lawyers Association wrote in a policy brief last fall.
Critics also say that a board within the courts system that determines how immigration judges can rule on cases has issued a number of decisions under the Trump administration that have narrowed the pathway to asylum through the courts. Blanche brushed away the criticism, saying the decisions were consistent with the law.
Blanche said there were problems with judges repeatedly delaying cases and other cases where judges weren’t following the law “because of sympathy towards individuals.”
Flush with money from Congress last summer that empowered the department to hire more judges, the department is rapidly hiring new immigration court judges, sparking criticism that the judges do not meet standards.
“We have a very rigorous process to get people interviewed, approved, and then trained up. And then we’ll watch them,” Blanche said, expressing confidence in the new hires.
Blanche also said the Justice Department has been prioritizing efforts to strip citizenship from people that the administration says have defrauded the system, a process known as “denaturalization” that between 1990-2017 was used in only about a dozen cases per year.
“That’s one of the tools that we are using aggressively that hasn’t been used as aggressively in the past,” Blanche said, without providing specific numbers.
