𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐎𝐙𝐄𝐍𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐌𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐉𝐔𝐃𝐆𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 — 𝐍𝐘𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐌𝐒
The New York Times just confirmed (April 9, 2026): the Trump administration is systematically removing immigration judges who blocked deportations — and the purge is 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥.
The numbers: 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 through 2025 alone (NPR). The U.S. now has roughly 𝟐𝟓% 𝐟𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 than a year ago.
Why it’s legal: immigration judges are 𝐃𝐎𝐉 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬 under the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) — they are 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐈𝐈𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 with life tenure. They serve at the pleasure of the Attorney General, who serves at the pleasure of the President. A 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 Bloomberg Law report confirmed the firings were 𝐮𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞.
The pattern NPR found: 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 — meaning they came from backgrounds representing immigrants, not enforcing removal. Former judge Jeremiah Johnson described the message: “𝘈𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥.”
The replacement judges are being drawn from 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 (Reuters, February 2026) — professionals who understand enforcement, not activists who undermined it.
𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝟐𝟓% 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞.