{"id":2579579,"date":"2026-03-13T15:16:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T19:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-adds-42-new-immigration-judges-with-trump-aligned-enforcement-records\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T15:23:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T19:23:04","slug":"doj-adds-42-new-immigration-judges-with-trump-aligned-enforcement-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-adds-42-new-immigration-judges-with-trump-aligned-enforcement-records\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ adds 42 new immigration judges with Trump-aligned enforcement records"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdoj-adds-42-new-immigration-judges-with-trump-aligned-enforcement-records%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2579579&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Justice Department has appointed and sworn in 42 new immigration judges across six states (California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia) as part of an effort to reshape the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mayorkas-pushes-backlog-amnesty-for-over-1-million-illegals-facing-deportation\/\" title=\"Ma...as Pushes &#039;Backlog Amnesty&#039; for over 1 Million Illegals Facing ...\">immigration court system<\/a> and advance a tougher deportation agenda. The judges were invested in Washington, with Attorney General Pam Bondi administering the oath. The appointments are described as a move to reduce the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-biden-admin-released-a-suspected-terrorist-into-the-united-states-after-he-illegally-crossed-the-border\/\" title=\"The Biden Admin Released A Suspected Terrorist Into The United States After He Illegally Crossed The Border\">immigration court backlog<\/a>,which EOIR says has fallen by more than 380,000 cases since January of last year.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the new judges come from prosecutorial or enforcement backgrounds within DHS, including roles with CBP and ICE, signaling a shift toward decisions aligned with stricter immigration enforcement. Some appointees have publicly supported tougher penalties or deportation-focused policies. The hires follow a period of turnover in the immigration judge corps,with NPR noting more than 100 judges leaving in 2025 and a continued push to replace them,reflecting greater executive branch control over the process. In a related development, the Supreme court ruled that federal appeals courts must defer to immigration judges\u2019 factual determinations in asylum cases when those findings are supported by substantial evidence, underscoring the meaningful role of immigration judges in asylum decisions. Despite these changes, the overall backlog remains large, with about 3.37 million cases and 2.3 million asylum hearing delays, according to data cited by the article.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">DOJ adds 42 new immigration judges with Trump-aligned enforcement records<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2530355\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/department-of-justice\/\">Justice Department<\/a> this week added 42 new immigration judges across courts in California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia, marking the latest step in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/trump-administration\/\">Trump administration<\/a>&rsquo;s effort to reshape the immigration court system with appointees whose records align more closely with its hard-line deportation agenda.<\/p>\n<p>The new judges were sworn in during an investiture ceremony at the DOJ&rsquo;s Great Hall in Washington, with Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pam-bondi\/\">Pam Bondi<\/a> administering the oath on Wednesday. The Executive Office for Immigration Review said the appointments are part of its push to reduce the immigration court backlog, which the agency says has fallen by more than 380,000 cases since Jan. 20 last year.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/4491139\/democrats-to-censure-randy-fine-andy-ogles-islamophobia\/\">Democrats organize censure of Fine and Ogles over Islamophobic posts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/4489428\/house-democrats-ice-contracts-2500-marked-vehicles-noem\/\">House Democrats ask ICE for contracts on 2,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-joins-case-to-find-missing-air-force-general\/\" title=\"FBI joins case to find missing Air Force general\">500 marked vehicles overbought<\/a> under Noem<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/immigration\/4486302\/zohran-mamdani-ramadan-mahmoud-khalil\/\">Mamdani celebrates Ramadan with Mahmoud Khalil one year after his detention<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives before President Donald Trump gives the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Matt Rourke)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;This Department of Justice has made reducing the immigration court backlog a top priority, and these 42 new highly qualified judges will help us deliver on that goal,&rdquo; Bondi said in a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pam-bondi\/\">statement<\/a>. &ldquo;Under the Trump Administration, immigration judges will decide cases based on the law not politics.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But the makeup of the new class underscores a broader ideological shift inside the immigration court system. Many of the appointees come from prosecutorial, law enforcement, military, or immigration-enforcement backgrounds rather than <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >defense-aligned immigration advocacy work<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Several previously served in immigration enforcement roles within the Department of Homeland Security. Stephen P. Alcorn, now assigned to the Sterling Immigration Court, worked as an attorney and legal instructor for Customs and Border Protection at the U.S. Border Patrol Academy, for example.<\/p>\n<p>Jonathan M. Brent, assigned to the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/los-angeles\/\">Los Angeles<\/a> immigration court on Van Nuys Boulevard, served for years as a senior attorney and deputy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/report-letter-claims-gavin-newsom-interfered-with-harassment-suit-that-benefitted-his-funders\/\" title=\"REPORT: Letter Claims Gavin Newsom Interfered With Harassment Suit That Benefitted His Funders\">assistant chief counsel<\/a> for CBP. Corey A. Combs, now in Newark, previously worked as an assistant chief counsel with ICE&rsquo;s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, while Christopher Cusmano, assigned to New York&rsquo;s Federal Plaza court, also came from ICE, according to the DOJ&rsquo;s press release.<\/p>\n<p>A few of the appointees also have records suggesting more overt alignment with Trump-era immigration priorities.<\/p>\n<p>Kieran M. Lalor, a former <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Kieran_Michael_Lalor\">Republican<\/a> New York <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Kieran_Michael_Lalor\">assemblyman<\/a> now assigned to the Ulster Immigration Court, previously criticized public funding for lawyers representing immigrants fighting deportation and argued for tougher penalties on businesses that hire people in the country illegally, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/trump-administration-names-42-immigration-judges-many-enforcement-backgrounds-2026-03-12\/\">according<\/a> to <em>Reuters<\/em>. Chad Dotson, now assigned to the Richmond Immigration Adjudication Center, backed the deportation of criminal noncitizens while serving as <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/virginia\/\">Virginia<\/a>&rsquo;s corrections director and parole board chairman.<\/p>\n<p>The latest hires come after a major turnover inside the immigration judge corps. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/01\/10\/nx-s1-5672386\/the-trump-administration-fired-nearly-100-immigration-judges-in-2025-whats-next\">According<\/a> to an NPR tally, the department has seen the departure of more than 100 judges who were fired, retired, resigned, or accepted buyouts. The administration has aggressively moved to replace those who have left, emphasizing that immigration judges, as DOJ employees, fall under executive branch control rather than the independent federal judiciary.<\/p>\n<p>The broader role of immigration judges was reaffirmed earlier this month when the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\">Supreme Court<\/a> ruled unanimously that federal appeals courts must defer to immigration judges&rsquo; factual determinations in asylum cases when those findings are supported by substantial evidence. There is currently a 3.37 million backlog of immigration cases in the U.S., and 2.3 million of those cases involve asylum hearing delays, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/tracreports.org\/immigration\/quickfacts\/eoir.html\">according to data<\/a> collection by Syracuse University&rsquo;s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ketanji-brown-jackson\/\">SUPREME COURT RULES COURTS MUST DEFER TO IMMIGRATION JUDGES IN ASYLUM CASES<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the high court&rsquo;s March 4 decision, <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-777_9ol1.pdf\">Urias-Orellana v. Bondi<\/a><\/em>, the justices concluded that courts reviewing asylum denials must apply a deferential &ldquo;substantial evidence&rdquo; standard when evaluating whether immigration judges properly determined that an applicant failed to show persecution under the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscis.gov\/laws-and-policy\/legislation\/immigration-and-nationality-act\">Immigration and Nationality Act<\/a>. Writing for the court, Justice <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/ketanji-brown-jackson\/\">Ketanji Brown Jackson<\/a> said the statute requires courts to defer to immigration authorities&rsquo; factual conclusions when supported by reasonable evidence.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court ruling reinforced the influence immigration judges wield in determining whether migrants qualify for asylum protections. Immigration judges, who operate within the DOJ&rsquo;s EOIR, decide more than 200,000 asylum applications each year, with appeals routed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, another DOJ body.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DOJ hires 42 judges aligned with Trump&#8217;s enforcement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2633,"featured_media":2579580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26029818771113.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[7076,75747,3813,75092,3634],"class_list":["post-2579579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-doj","tag-enforcement-records","tag-immigration","tag-immigration-judges","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26029818771113.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2633"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2579579"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2579583,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579579\/revisions\/2579583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2579580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2579579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2579579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2579579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}