Immigration judges fired

The Trump administration fired at least two immigration judges days after they had ruled against deporting student activists tied to Palestinian-rights protests. (abcnews.com) The judges were Roopal Patel in Massachusetts and Nina Froes in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, according to ABC News, Reuters and local Boston outlets. The National Association of Immigration Judges said six judges were fired over the weekend, after three more were fired on Good Friday. (abcnews.com) (usnews.com) (wgbh.org) Patel ruled in February that the government had not shown grounds to deport Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University graduate student from Turkey. Boston.com and WBUR reported Patel was told on Friday, April 10, that she was being dismissed. (boston.com) (wbur.org) (markey.senate.gov) Froes dismissed deportation proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student and lawful permanent resident, in February after finding problems with the government’s evidence, according to CBS News and Vermont Public. ABC News identified Froes as the other judge fired. (cbsnews.com) (vermontpublic.org) (abcnews.com) Immigration judges are not life-tenured federal judges. Federal regulations say they are attorneys appointed by the attorney general as administrative judges inside the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a Justice Department agency. (ecfr.gov) (justice.gov) That structure has put the firings at the center of a fight over court independence inside the immigration system. The judges’ union said 113 immigration judges have been fired since January 2025 and said the latest terminations came “without due process, cause or explanation.” (usnews.com) (abcnews.com) The Justice Department disputed that the firings were retaliation for specific rulings. A department official told Boston.com that judges must be “impartial and neutral” and said the Executive Office for Immigration Review is required to act if a judge shows systematic bias for either side. (boston.com) (whtc.com) The firings landed amid broader personnel changes at the immigration courts. The Executive Office for Immigration Review announced new immigration judges on March 11 and temporary judges on April 8, while The Guardian reported that recent removals and reassignments have reshaped the courts as deportation cases accelerate. (justice.gov) (theguardian.com) Öztürk’s case had already drawn national attention after she was detained in Louisiana for 45 days before a federal judge ordered her release, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Mahdawi’s case had become another test of whether protest activity could be used to justify deportation. (aclum.org) (cbsnews.com) For now, the clearest number is six judges fired in one weekend, with Patel and Froes the most visible names because of the student cases they had just decided. The administration says it is enforcing neutrality; the judges’ union says the court system is being purged. (usnews.com) (abcnews.com)