DOJ Deploys 36 New Immigration Judges Across 16 States, Taps Pentagon JAGs

DOJ’s EOIR is adding 36 immigration judges—25 of them temporary—to courts in 16 states after months of layoffs and resignations. Temporary judges include military JAG attorneys following a Pentagon authorization and a DOJ rule that loosened qualification requirements. The hires aim to ease a massive backlog but raise due-process and politicization concerns given the rapid turnover and limited immigration-law experience among some appointees.