The Department of Justice has terminated six immigration judges, including two who ruled against the Trump administration in high-profile cases involving pro-Palestinian university students arrested during campus protests last year.
Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, both appointed to the bench by the Biden administration in May 2024, were among those let go. The New York Times first reported the dismissals over the weekend.
Patel had rejected efforts to deport Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University PhD student who co-wrote an op-ed critical of the university's response to Israeli military operations in Gaza. Patel terminated the proceedings after determining the government lacked grounds for removal. In February, Froes blocked the administration's attempt to deport Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia student and pro-Palestinian activist arrested during a citizenship interview.
Both judges had worked in immigration defense before joining the bench. A recent NPR analysis found that the Trump administration appears to be systematically targeting judges with prior experience representing immigrants.
Patel described her termination as fitting a broader pattern rather than direct retaliation for a single case. "I think there's a broader agenda of trying to reshape the immigration bench to be more reflective of the political agenda of the administration," she told the Guardian.
The judge received notification of her firing by email on Friday afternoon while conducting a hearing. She gathered her belongings and informed a supervisor before departing, aware that other dismissed federal employees have been quickly escorted from their posts.
The Justice Department's statement on the terminations emphasized its standard evaluation criteria: "conduct, impartiality/bias, adherence to the law, productivity/performance, and professionalism." The agency stated that judges have "a legal, ethical, and professional obligation to be impartial and neutral in adjudicating cases" and that it must act if any judge demonstrates "systematic bias in favor of or against either party."
Patel expressed concern about the implications of removing experienced immigration judges from the bench. She noted that losing personnel with specialized training, combined with mounting pressure to process cases faster, leaves less room for due process protections and increases the likelihood of errors.
"It's important for us to have an immigration bench that is responsive to the law, to the constitution, to due process, and it is concerning to see that is being eroded actively," Patel said.
The terminations occur as the administration intensifies its deportation enforcement agenda targeting participants in Gaza-related campus activism.
Author James Rodriguez: "Firing judges for ruling against you is authoritarianism wrapped in bureaucratic language."
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