U.S. has a quarter fewer immigration judges than it did a year ago. Here's why
February 23, 2026 at 10:30 AM
By NPR NewsThe continued drain of personnel from the already strained immigration court system has contributed to depleted staff morale, mounting case backlogs — and floundering due process.
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The continued drain of personnel from the already strained immigration court system has contributed to depleted staff morale, mounting case backlogs — The continued drain of personnel from the already strained immigration court system has contributed to depleted staff morale, mounting case backlogs — Monitor developments in U.S. for further updates.
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The continued drain of personnel from the already strained immigration court system has contributed
The continued drain of personnel from the already strained immigration court system has contributed to depleted staff morale, mounting case backlogs — and floundering due process.
Exclusive Immigration U.S. has a quarter fewer immigration judges than it did a year ago. Here's why February 23, 20265:30 AM ET By Anusha Mathur , Ximena Bustillo The front lobby of the Miami Immigration Court seen on Jan. 28, 2026 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Joe Raedle/Getty Images Amiena Khan was supposed to have the day off that December. But, in a supervisory role at an immigration court, "you never really are on leave," she said. So Khan was working — mostly on performance evaluations for the 36 immigration judges and dozens of staff members she oversaw at the court in Manhattan's 26 Federal Plaza. At 11:29 a.m., while in the middle of a meeting, Khan received the email she had been dreading for months: she had been fired. As her phone began blowing up, she learned that six of the judges she supervised had been terminated as well. Sponsor Message "As I tried to reassure them, I was trying to explain, 'But I've been terminated too,'" said Khan, who had been an assistant chief immigration judge at the court. "It was chilling and — in how the terminations were effectuated — it was disrespectful. It was utter disregard of dedicated public servants." While Khan's firing was upsetting, she said it wasn't altogether shocking. The Trump administration fired nearly 100 judges in 2025. The dismissals were part of a larger push by the Trump administration to reshape America's immigration courts. Immigration NPR analysis shows skyrocketing number of 'no-shows' in immigration court The number of judges in the nation's immigration courts shrunk by about a quarter in the last year due to firings and resignations — even when accounting for new hires. Twelve immigration courts have lost over half of their judges. Many courts are down to skeleton crews to handle thousands of cases; two courts have no judges at all. In total, the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review, or EOIR, lost over 400 legal assistants, attorney advisers and legal administrative specialists, according to data obtained and verified by NPR. The continued drain of personnel and resources from the already strained immigration court system has contributed to depleted staff morale, mounting case backlogs — and a floundering due process system. Sponsor Message Some former judges call this a shrinkage of America's immigration courts that sends a clear message from the Trump administration: to green-light mass deportations, and get rid of the judges they think stand in the way. Immigration Democrats seek limits on who can serve as immigration judges amid mass layoffs "You are telling every other judge that is left that they better not be following the law or their conscience; that they need to apply the law as you are interpreting it," said Arwen Swink, a former immigration judge fired from a San Francisco court in December. "You lose a little piece of justice. You lose some fundamental fairness, and understandably, you undermine confidence in the proceedings." The Trump administration has defended its personnel decisions, saying judges under the Biden administration were too lenient with granting asylum or other statuses to those seeking to stay in the U.S. "After four years of the Biden Administration forcing Immigration Courts to implement a de facto amnesty for hundreds of thousands of aliens, this Department of Justice is restoring integrity to our immigration system by following the law, timely completing cases, and hiring the most talented legal professionals to join in our mission to protect national security and public safety," a DOJ spokesperson said in a statement to NPR in response to questions about the loss of personnel. Loading... Cuts nationwide, with some courts hit worse than others On Feb. 4, 2025 — the day before the first immigration judge firing under President Trump's second term — the corps of permanent immigration judges consisted of 726 people: 683 immigration judges and 43 assistant chief immigration judges. They were spread across 75 courts nationwide. As of Monday, there are 520 permanent immigration judges and 33 assistant chief immigration judges, even after accounting for recent new hires. Consider This from NPR What a day in immigration court is like now Over the next several months, the Trump administration fired nearly 100 of these judges, according to an independent tally kept by NPR. Dozens more judges retired or resigned, citing discomfort surrounding new policies about how they were supposed to adjudicate, according to interviews with current and former EOIR staff. "I really wanted to retire from this job much, much later than I did," said Ana Partida, a judge who retired from the Otay Mesa court in San Diego in October. "I no longer felt that I had judicial independence to conduct my courtroom and to make decisions under the law as I interpreted it." Sponsor Message In total, 202 judges who were working in early 2025 are no longer there. Attrition ha
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