DOJ adds 42 immigration judges
The Justice Department announced it appointed 42 new immigration judges on March 11, many with enforcement backgrounds, as part of a backlog-reduction push. The hires are already drawing pushback from advocates who call them 'deportation judges' and warn of enforcement-heavy rosters reported.
EOIR published full biographies and assigned the cohort to immigration courts in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and [Virginia DOJ]justice.gov. Attorney General Pamela Bondi administered the oath at the Department of Justice’s Great Hall, and the investiture release lists appointees including Stephen P. Alcorn, Anupriya Krishna and Akash B. Vyas among the newly detailed [biographies DOJ]justice.gov. More than one‑third of the new judges previously worked on immigration matters at the Department of Homeland Security or ICE, with several coming straight from ICE’s legal offices, according to Reuters reporting on the cohort’s [backgrounds Reuters]usnews.com. EOIR’s announcement also states the agency has reduced its backlog by over 380,000 cases since January 20, 2025, while independent analysts cited by Reuters put the nationwide immigration‑court backlog at about 3.2 million cases as of December 31, [2025 DOJ]justice.gov. Reuters notes the 42 appointments arrive after at least 104 immigration judges were fired since January 2025 and follow roughly 20 other permanent hires announced since last October plus dozens of short‑term temporary judges the department has [authorized Reuters]usnews.com. News outlets and legal observers point to prior DOJ recruitment messaging that used the phrase “deportation judges,” and advocacy groups have criticized the enforcement‑heavy hiring push while the department simultaneously issued an interim final rule on February 6, 2026 narrowing appellate review at the Board of Immigration Appeals, a change summarized by the American Immigration Council [Bloomberg Law]news.bloomberglaw.com.
