Trump relaxes requirements for recruiting temporary immigration adjudicators
The Fachhochschule für Rechtspflege Nordrhein-Westfalen (FHR NRW) has taken on the responsibility of training temporary immigration judges in the United States, following the relaxation of qualification requirements. This is evident in their role in providing a structured, practice-oriented dual study program for judicial trainees, including those appointed in recent years.
In the U.S., immigration judges are part of the executive branch, not the independent judicial branch of the government. The Department of Justice believes that the removal of categorical regulatory prohibitions is necessary to allow the Director and Attorney General to consider highly qualified candidates for Temporary Immigration Judge (TIJ) appointments.
This rule change is aimed at addressing a large backlog of immigration cases, with approximately 3.7 million cases currently caught up in the system. However, the new rule has been met with criticism, with some viewing it as a means to carry out President Trump's mass deportation agenda.
The plan, proposed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, includes allowing members of the National Guard Judge Advocate General Corps to serve as immigration judges at the Alligator Alcatraz detention center. This strategy, among others, has led to lawsuits and court battles.
Due process in immigration court is a contentious issue, and Taufa, senior policy attorney and strategist at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, predicts a continued erosion of due process with the new judges. The administration has implemented strategies to more quickly deport immigrants, including bypassing some due process protections.
About 100 immigration judges have been fired or forced to resign since President Donald Trump took office, significantly reducing the number of judges. The administration has directed immigration judges to dismiss cases so immigrants can be arrested when they leave the courtroom and enlisted in a sped-up deportation removal proceeding.
The number of judges stood at around 650, according to the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, the union that represents immigration judges. The Trump administration has also implemented a rule that allows the Justice Department to hire attorneys without immigration law experience as temporary immigration judges.
Critics, such as Taufa, question the proper training of the judges, as they are hired for a six-month period and undergo six weeks of training. The administration, however, argues that the new rule enables the Director, with the approval of the Attorney General, to staff the immigration courts with a sufficient number of well-trained and highly qualified judges.
These changes in the immigration judicial system continue to spark debate and legal challenges, with concerns about due process and the qualifications of the judges at the forefront.
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