A former federal immigration judge who was recently laid off said that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has significantly worsened the immigration backlog by dismissing dozens of judges.
The judge, who requested anonymity due to legal appeals, told Newsweek she believes the firings of immigration judges have added years of delays to asylum cases, with some hearings now postponed until 2028.
The Trump administration fired 20 immigration judges across the Department of Justice‘s Executive Office for Immigration Review on February 27.
The recently established DOGE, led by President Donald Trump‘s billionaire ally Elon Musk, is focused on slashing federal spending and has dissected multiple federal agencies.
Immigration courts are overwhelmed, with a backlog exceeding 3.7 million cases, according to Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. Asylum-seekers often wait years for a decision. There’s broad political support for adding judges and staff to ease the burden.
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“I already had a backlog where I was filled for 2027. So my hearing dates are probably going to go back to 2028, and then you have to take all those cases and add them to the other judges. I mean, you’re looking at years of delay of cases because you’re removing judges from the courtroom,” the judge told Newsweek.
“We’re on the bench nonstop. It’s even hard to find time to write decisions. And so you’re working cases day in and day out; there’s no room for the schedules for my 5,000 cases to go on to other judges.
“It’s very inefficient. I mean, you’re putting years into somebody’s case now. They’re going to be waiting a lot longer. And the money you invested in hiring staff and then firing them so quickly, that’s a huge waste,” she added.
Fewer judges mean longer wait times for migrants awaiting decisions on their cases.
Experts told Newsweek that there is “no scenario where firing immigration judges will decrease the immigration court backlog.”
“Removing 20 immigration judges in one stroke has an immediate impact on the efficiency and economy of our immigration court system—and will undoubtedly add to the already ballooning backlog,” Amelia Wilson, a law professor at Pace University Law School, told Newsweek.
“There are currently around 3.5 million pending deportation cases handled by roughly 700 immigration judges nationwide, sitting in over 71 courts. On a typical day, an immigration judge hears 40-50 status calls in the morning and presides over 1-2 final trials in an afternoon—and this says nothing of the many motions and other matters they need to review and decide each day.”
Meanwhile, the former judge described the manner of her termination, recalling that a visibly “distressed” supervisor told her that her employment had been abruptly ended through an email from the director. They received no prior notice, explanation, or official termination paperwork.
“My family was very proud. And it was very much an honor to be there. So it’s a huge blow. Everything that I had led up to was to become an immigration judge.
“I was shocked because I didn’t have any notice, and I had asked him, do you know why? And he said, no, I was not given a reason. And he told me, You’re one of my best judges here. It is not performance.”
The judge further detailed the immediate impact of her dismissal: she was escorted out of the building without receiving termination forms or clarity about her benefits.
“I have kids who are on my insurance plan. I was not given any direction on how long my insurance will last for,” she said.
Despite multiple attempts to contact HR and file public records requests, she has not received a response.
She argued that the recent round of terminations was politically motivated and aimed at creating a misleading narrative of government efficiency.
“It’s not going to help anyone. It hurts our morale. It hurts the efficiency of how the government’s being run,” she said.
“I can’t collect unemployment because I don’t have the right forms. This is a huge blow to me and my family. And I think that this was done to get a Twitter soundbite,” she said.
“I know that there was no other reason for this than to say, hey, look, we’re being more efficient, and we’re firing these people, and there’s actually human beings on the other side that are going to be affected,” she added.
As asylum-seekers and their families face prolonged uncertainty, the judge fears that due process is no longer a priority.
“Our job is to make sure there’s a full and fair hearing and that due process rights are protected. But I don’t think that that’s the goal anymore. I think the goal is to not have that, right? So if you eliminate the judges, so what? You could just deport the people,” she said.
With the immigration crisis deepening, the judge and legal experts warn that unless more judges are reinstated or hired, the backlog will continue to grow, leaving countless individuals without legal status in limbo.