Trump administration fires 17 immigration court judges across 10 states, union says
Firings come with courts at the center of administration efforts
The firings come as the courts have been increasingly at the center of the Trump administration's hardline immigration enforcement efforts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arresting immigrants as they appear at court for proceedings.
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A spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which is the part of the Justice Department that oversees the courts, said in an email that the office would not comment on the firings.
The large-scale arrests began in May and have unleashed fear among asylum-seekers and immigrants appearing in court. In what has become a familiar scene, a judge will grant a government lawyer's request to dismiss deportation proceedings against an immigrant. Meanwhile, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are waiting in the hallway to arrest the person and put them on a fast track to deportation as soon as he or she leaves the courtroom.
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Immigration court judges are also dealing with a massive backlog of roughly 3.5 million cases that ballooned in recent years. Cases can take years to weave their way to a final determination, with judges and lawyers frequently scheduling final hearings on the merits of a case over a year out. Unlike criminal courts, immigrants don't have the right to a lawyer, and if they can't afford one they represent themselves — often using an interpreter to make their case.
Courts are getting a cash infusion
Under recently passed legislation that will use $170 billion to supercharge immigration enforcement, the courts are set to get an infusion of $3.3 billion. That will go toward raising the number of judges to 800 and hiring more staff to support them.
But the union said that since the Trump administration took office over 103 judges have either been fired or voluntarily left after taking what was dubbed the 'Fork in the Road' offers at the beginning of the administration. The union said that rather than speeding up the immigration court process, the Justice Department's firings would actually make the backlogs worse. The union said that it can take as long as a year to recruit, hire and train new immigration court judges.
There are currently about 600 judges, according to the union figures. Immigration courts fall under the Justice Department.
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Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Inside a US guitar string maker's strategy to navigate the trade war
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For D'Addario, a family-owned business that has been around for over half a century, this has meant looking at every aspect of their business to assess exposure, resulting in strategies that include setting up their own free trade zone and rerouting shipments to avoid tariffs, Reuters reporting shows. U.S. companies are learning there are no quick fixes to their trade woes. What seems to work one week may be outdated the next as the levies, or threats of levies, shift. In the past few months, the U.S. has slapped a minimum 10% tariff on most imported goods, with higher rates on steel, aluminum, cars, and car parts. The trade war so far has pushed the effective U.S. tariff rate to around 20%, according to the Budget Lab at Yale, a level not seen since the 1930s. D'Addario is one of the world's leading makers of music accessories, with annual sales of $235 million and six U.S. factories. Five of those plants are clustered in this Long Island suburb, including one that churns out 750,000 strings a day for everything from bass guitars and banjos to violas and mandolins. The company has a devoted following among professional musicians as well as amateurs. John Oates--of the former rock duo Hall & Oates--uses their strings, as does jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and country singer Chris Stapleton. Neil Peart, the late Rush drummer, used D'Addario's drumsticks--and the company still sells sticks that were designed specifically for his playing style and bear his signature. A set of those hung on the wall of the conference room where the task force met one recent morning. While the company makes nearly all their products in the U.S., their supply chain and distribution are global. They export nearly 45% of what they make to 120 countries. Their biggest foreign market is Japan. TRADE WAR ROOM D'Addario's global footprint means they keep finding new vulnerabilities. For instance, one item on the agenda of the recent meeting was Japanese oak. D'Addario uses the wood, known as Shira Kashi oak, to craft a line of drumsticks coveted for their durability and feel. Some drummers won't play anything else. But the cost of the material is set to jump on August 1 if Trump makes good on his vow to push through a wide range of new tariffs, including 25% on Japanese goods. 'There isn't really any good alternative—people want their Shira Kashi oak,' Hank Sheller, the company's strategic sourcing manager, told the group of eight other executives gathered around a conference table three days after Trump announced the new levies on Japan. The group concluded that, in this case, a price increase to offset tariffs would be readily accepted by consumers because the wood is so unique. 'That's just something people will pay for,' said D'Addario. Other topics under discussion were more difficult to resolve, like what Trump's promise of a 50% copper tariff, announced the day after the Japan duties, would do to their costs. D'Addario doesn't buy raw copper but consumes large amounts of copper rod that it draws out into ultra-fine thread used to wind many types of musical strings. 'The problem is we don't really know the origin of the copper we're getting—whether it's from a domestic source or imported,' said D'Addario. 'But it's more likely there will be a cost increase for us, even if it is a U.S.-based supplier.' And unlike Japanese oak, copper strings are a commodity, so raising consumer prices to cover the tariff cost is unlikely. The task force has found ways to sidestep some tariffs. 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Chicago Tribune
2 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
Letters: Crackdown on immigrants exposes our hypocrisy
Are we really this hypocritical as a nation? For decades upon decades, we have imported immigrant workers to work in our fields, factories, restaurants and hospitality. We knowingly paid them subpar wages and exposed them to potential injuries. But suddenly, we realize they are criminals. They are here illegally, so that makes them a criminal? And so, we deport them all, viciously and violently. We terrorize these innocent people and traumatize families and especially children. And let's not forget. We aren't just targeting immigrants here illegally; there has been quite a lot of collateral damage with federal agents picking up people who happen to be brown and might be here illegally. According to a recent article published in the Tribune (''Worst of worst' pledge far from reality ICE statistics show no criminal record for most detainees,' in print July 15), of the 57,861 people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, '41,495 … had no criminal convictions.' Further, according to ICE, 84% of the detainees were rated as no threat, and only 5% were rated as a high threat. I don't like to make the counterargument that we need these people in our country to do our dirty work. My stand is that we treat all human beings as human beings. We can't ignore what is happening to these people. They are hardworking folks who harm us in absolutely no way; they add to our productivity and provide much needed services. Our nation is built on the premise that everyone is welcome here. We are a land of immigrants. And to those who repeat that immigrants need to come through the proper channels like our ancestors did, I say: Then make the quotas fair. Everyone is not equal in the eyes of our immigration everyone abided by our existing immigration laws, we wouldn't have an immigration crisis. People would come across our border only at official crossings and have their identities checked as they came in. People would not overstay their visas or the amount of time they as tourists are allowed to visit. People would leave when they have a final order of removal. People who want to immigrate would follow the rules we have in place. People who promote sanctuary cities and states talk about a broken immigration system when the real problem is people breaking our laws. No matter how the laws are changed, there will be those who will not abide by the law. If laws are not enforced by all levels of government, people will not respect the laws, and problems will hypocrisy of some in this country is stunning. After a 10-day road trip to the East Coast, passing through red state after red state, I witnessed road construction crews along the interstate highways staffed by dozens of brown men performing work in the sweltering heat. 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Stop this ridiculous charade of demonizing those just trying to eke out a living for their families who make our lives better. Fix the immigration system and hire more immigration judges who can determine who best belongs in this country.I'm really tired of the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement positions promoted in the Tribune. Let me lay out some basics: One, why would ICE target Chicago or other blue cities and states? Answer: because they declared themselves sanctuaries; by definition, that is where immigrants will go. Second, what is the sanctuary being offered? Answer: sanctuary from the law. What happened to 'no one is above the law'?Has this nation lost its moral compass? Notwithstanding anyone's position on illegal immigration, it's shocking to me why there hasn't been more of a public outcry about the so-called Alligator Alcatraz and countless other federal detention facilities that treat the inmates like rabid dogs. No human being should be kept in a steaming hot cage with countless other inmates while deprived of proper sanitation and medical care. Where are our voices?As a fourth-generation American, I am disheartened and fear for this constitutional society and country in which I live. I fear for the freedoms and liberties of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren as I see this current government sow hatred and fear and ridicule any dissent as not being patriotic. Party moderates are ousted or threatened for speaking out for the greater good and for fiscal responsibility for the American people. Truth is ridiculed and despised by those in power. Insurrection at the Capitol is brushed off, and convicted felons are released and pardoned. Our judicial system is attacked when it does not bow down to appease those currently in power. I feel like a voice in the wilderness hoping that the American people will wake up to this mess we have gotten ourselves into. 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Chicago Tribune
2 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
ICE arrests increase across Chicago under Trump, many with no convictions, data shows
With the Trump administration pushing far more aggressive immigration enforcement across the country and in Chicago, a Tribune analysis of newly released data shows a significant increase in the number of immigrants detained in the Chicago area — particularly those with no known criminal background. The findings come from a Tribune analysis of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data obtained and shared by the research group Deportation Data Project. The analysis shows that, as President Donald Trump's administration has pushed enforcement in sanctuary cities such as Chicago, ICE saw notable spikes in the number of people initially detained at two ICE processing centers in the area. The figures peaked at 88 bookings on an early June day that, at the time, drew attention for clashes between Chicago community members and federal immigration agents. Of the 88 booked that day, the latest analysis found, three-fourths had no criminal record logged by ICE. The surge in detentions — including immigrants with no known criminal record — mirrors broader trends across the country. The second Trump administration has increasingly focused on boosting the number of people arrested who lack legal status to be in the country, even if the efforts ensnared more people who didn't fit the traditional ICE focus on tracking down and deporting those who committed serious crimes. The analysis suggests that the efforts locally have done both — with ICE agents under the second Trump administration detaining double the rate of those convicted of violent felonies and sex crimes, while detaining nine times as many immigrants with no known criminal past. Local ICE officials have not released such detailed data on their enforcement efforts. When told about the Tribune's analysis and asked about its findings, a spokesman for ICE's local office did not immediately respond. The data used by the Tribune in its analysis was obtained by the law school of the University of California at Los Angeles, as part of a December 2024 lawsuit it filed to force ICE to release the data under the Freedom of Information Act. Court records show that ICE produced the raw data in batches this summer, and the law school shared the data with the Deportation Data Project, which posted the latest batch online Tuesday to share with reporters and researchers. (ICE refused earlier this year to directly provide the Tribune with similar raw data the newspaper had requested under the open records law.) The raw data has limitations. It does not identify detained people by name — unlike traditional jail logs or prison rosters, which by law typically must identify the people being held behind bars. And while the data lists details of each detention and some biographical information on who was detained, it does not list the cities, or even the counties, where people were arrested. That makes it impossible to tally the precise numbers of arrests in Chicago and the suburbs. The data, however, does log when people were booked into ICE's facilities in Broadview and Chicago, offering a proxy to gauge the number of people detained in the Chicago region, and the type of person being detained in a second Trump administration in a city that Trump's 'border czar,' Tom Homan, called 'ground zero' for enforcement. The Tribune analysis found that in Trump's first 150 days, ICE detained three times the number of immigrants convicted of crimes than in President Joe Biden's last 150 days in office. But, under Trump, ICE detained nine times as many immigrants without any known criminal past. A deeper look at ICE data finds that, among those deemed convicted of crimes, agents in Trump's first 150 days booked nearly double the number of people convicted of violent felony or sex crimes, compared with Biden's last 150 days. But the data also shows that, under Trump, a far higher proportion of the bookings for convicted immigrants were for those who'd committed lesser crimes, with a nearly fivefold uptick in drunken-driving or traffic offenses. That trend could be seen on ICE's busiest day for booking in the Chicago area — June 4. On that Wednesday, ICE data logged no known criminal convictions for three-fourths of the 88 people. Of the remaining 22, half had pending charges and half had convictions. Of the 11 with convictions, two had convictions for violent felony or sex crimes. Three had convictions for drug or property crimes. Three had convictions for drunken-driving or traffic offenses. Two had listed convictions illegally entering or reentering the country. And one had violated probation for an unspecified crime. On that day, ICE sent text messages requesting immigrants to report to a downtown office for check-ins, and advocates said about 20 of those immigrants never came out of the building. Over two dozen aldermen and community organizers gathered to protest outside before clashing with immigration agents who pulled those inside the building into unmarked white vans. One alderman reported that the agents shoved protesters and used batons like the 'Gestapo.' At the time, an ICE spokesperson said in a statement to the Tribune that everyone arrested had a deportation order by an immigration judge and 'had not complied with that order.' As of three weeks later — the most recent update to the ICE data — of the 88 detained, 25 had either been deported or left the country voluntarily, in a category deemed 'removals,' according to ICE data. That included four convicted of a crime: someone convicted of firing a weapon, another of shoplifting, one of drunken driving, and another for illegally reentering the country when previously deported, according to the ICE data analyzed by the Tribune. Six more with pending criminal charges were removed before they could be tried. And 15 people with no criminal background were removed. More broadly, of those booked into Chicago-area facilities, the data shows that nearly half of those removed during the second Trump administration had a criminal conviction, while about a third of those removed had no known criminal background. And while Trump, as a candidate, railed against the recent arrival of Venezuelan immigrants, and particularly claims of a violent Venezuelan street gang overrunning the country, the vast majority of Chicago-area removals under his second administration were of immigrants born in Mexico — 302 — compared with 136 born in Venezuela. And of the smaller group with violent felony or sex convictions, nearly all were born in Mexico. But the majority of people removed since inauguration day who had no criminal background were born in Venezuela, albeit with a significant number born in Mexico, too. Of those with no criminal record, the youngest removed was a boy born in 2021. The data doesn't specify if he was traveling with relatives but shows that the boy entered and exited the country with a married Venezuelan woman in her 30s and three other children — all of whom also had no known criminal record. All five entered the country in July 2023, were ordered to be deported in March 2024, and were detained somewhere in Illinois on June 11 and then sent to Venezuela five days later. The oldest was a married man born in Mexico in 1957, putting him in his late 60s. ICE records show he had been ordered to leave the country in 2009 and was arrested roughly 16 years later — on April 11 — by ICE. He was then shipped between three different facilities over five days — from Broadview to two jails in central Indiana before he was deported out of Texas. Little else is known about the man.
