After posting a series of ads recruiting “deportation judges” — formerly called “immigration judges” — the Department of Justice has announced new hires but the announcement did not mention hundreds of immigration judges have been fired without being given a reason.

More than 200 immigration judges were gone in a single year. Twelve courts lost more than half their judges, and two courts have no judges at all. The losses are fundamentally altering what the immigration court system can do.

Mimi Tsankov, who served as an immigration judge in New York, Colorado and other states, said the unexplained firings have led to chaotic courtrooms, worsening case backlogs and prolonged legal limbo for migrants.

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Immigration judgeships fall under the executive branch, which gives the Trump administration authority to remove them as part of its mass deportation and strict asylum goals. The Justice Department is offering new judges salaries of more than $200,000 per year, with an additional 25% signing bonus for first-time federal employees willing to work in what the administration calls “sanctuary cities,” such as Boston, New York and San Francisco.

The department said it is trying to restore integrity and honor to the immigration court system, combat fraud and ensure only migrants with legally valid claims are allowed to remain in the U.S.

Critics of the firings said judges perceived as too lenient toward asylum-seekers were targeted for removal.

Holly D’Andrea, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said there are millions of pending immigration cases across the country.

“None of the judges who have been fired have been given a reason why they were fired,” D’Andrea pointed out. “It’s strange in the immigration courts because it’s hard to justify those firings because we do have 3.53 million cases, and we need everybody to be helping.”

Jeremiah Johnson, vice president of the association, was fired last November, one of 12 immigration judges dismissed in San Francisco in 2025. He said he was terminated by email, locked out of the court system 30 seconds later and then escorted out of the building.

Johnson noted he was fired by the Justice Department shortly after granting asylum to an Indigenous family from Guatemala.

“To call an immigration judge a deportation judge kind of suggests that the outcome has already been predetermined — that deportation is going to happen — when in fact there’s a lot of weighing of evidence,” Johnson underscored.