The U.S. Justice Department has appointed 42 new immigration judges as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to reshape the nation’s immigration court system. The Executive Office for Immigration Review confirmed that the judges were sworn in on Wednesday and will serve in immigration courts across 17 states, including California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Texas. The move is part of a broader push by the administration to align the courts more closely with its strict deportation policies.
Many of the newly appointed judges come from backgrounds in prosecution and immigration enforcement. More than one-third previously worked on immigration matters at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with several joining directly from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The appointments follow the removal or departure of over 100 immigration judges since January 2025, with officials arguing that the president and the attorney general have constitutional authority to remove immigration judges, who operate under the Justice Department rather than the federal judiciary.
The appointments also come as immigration courts face a massive backlog of around 3.2 million cases as of December 2025, according to data from the nonprofit Mobile Pathways. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that reducing the backlog is a top priority and that the new judges will help accelerate case processing. Some of the appointees, including former New York Assembly Republican Kieran Lalor, have previously voiced strong support for stricter immigration enforcement policies.
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