Pentagon authorizes up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary
immigration judges
[September 03, 2025]
By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved sending up
to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department to serve as temporary
immigration judges, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated
Press.
The military will begin sending groups of 150 attorneys — both military
and civilians — to the Justice Department “as soon as practicable,” and
the military services should have the first round of people identified
by next week, according to the Aug. 27 memo.
The effort comes as the Trump administration more regularly turns to the
military as it cracks down on illegal immigration through ramped-up
arrests and deportations. Its growing role in the push includes troops
patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border, National Guard members being sent
into U.S. cities to support immigration enforcement efforts, housing
people awaiting deportation on military bases and using military
aircraft to carry out deportations.
The administration's focus on illegal immigration has added strain to
the immigration courts, which were already dealing with a massive
backlog of roughly 3.5 million cases that has ballooned in recent years.
An organization for immigration lawyers called the new directive a
“destructive” move meant to undermine the courts.
Numerous immigration judges have been fired
At the same time, more than 100 immigration judges have been fired or
left voluntarily after taking deferred resignations offered by the Trump
administration, their union says. In the most recent round of
terminations, the International Federation of Professional and Technical
Engineers said in July that at least 17 immigration judges had been
fired “without cause” in courts across the country.
That has left about 600 immigration judges, union figures show, meaning
the Pentagon move would double their ranks.
The Justice Department, which oversees the immigration courts, requested
the assistance from the Defense Department, according to the memo sent
by the Pentagon’s executive secretary to his DOJ counterpart. The
military lawyers' duties as immigration judges will initially last no
more than 179 days but can be renewed, it said.
A DOJ spokesperson referred questions about the plan to the Defense
Department, where officials directed questions to the White House.
A White House official said Tuesday that the administration is looking
at a variety of options to help resolve the significant backlog of
immigration cases, including hiring additional immigration judges. The
official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on
condition of anonymity, said the matter should be “a priority that
everyone — including those waiting for adjudication — can rally around.”
The head of the American Immigration Lawyers Association decried
bringing in temporary judges who lack expertise in immigration law,
saying “it makes as much as sense as having a cardiologist do a hip
replacement.”
“Expecting fair decisions from judges unfamiliar with the law is absurd.
This reckless move guts due process and further undermines the integrity
of our immigration court system,” said Ben Johnson, the organization’s
executive director.
[to top of second column]
|
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listens as President Donald Trump
speaks during an event signing a proclamation honoring the fourth
anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan, in the Oval
Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Alex Brandon)
Pentagon says the step may require mobilizing reserve officers
The memo stressed that the additional attorneys are contingent on
availability and that mobilizing reserve officers may be necessary.
Plus, the document said DOJ would be responsible for ensuring that
anyone sent from the Pentagon does not violate the federal
prohibition on using the military as domestic law enforcement, known
as the Posse Comitatus Act.
The administration faced a setback on its efforts to use troops in
unique ways to combat illegal immigration and crime, with a court
ruling Tuesday that it “willfully” violated federal law by sending
National Guard troops to Los Angeles in early June.
It is not immediately clear what impact shifting that number of
military attorneys would have on the armed forces' justice system.
The attorneys, called judge advocates, have a range of duties much
like civilian lawyers, from carrying out prosecutions, acting as a
defense attorney or offering legal advice.
Pentagon officials did immediately offer details on where any of the
600 attorneys will be drawn from and whether they will come from
active duty or the reserves.
The training that goes into being an immigration judge
Until she was abruptly fired in July, former supervising judge
Jennifer Peyton administered the intensive training that all judges
in Chicago undergo before working in some of the busiest immigration
courts in the country. After the weekslong training, new judges are
paired with an experienced mentor and have a two-year probationary
period.
Peyton doubted that military attorneys would be able to master the
complexities of immigration law without that rigorous process. She
also said it wasn’t clear how they would handle the hundreds, or
sometimes thousands, of cases on just a Chicago immigration judge’s
docket each year.
“Six months is barely enough time to start to figure out the
firehose of information and training,” she said.
Peyton also was concerned that Trump’s move didn’t supply more
administrative workers, including translators, whom judges rely on
to make decisions. The stakes, she said, were life or death for
people who would come before the new judges.
“None of it makes sense unless you were intentionally trying to
weaken the immigration courts,” Peyton said.
___
Associated Press writers Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, and
Will Weissert, Rebecca Santana and Eric Tucker in Washington
contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
