Senator Dick Durbin, the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi raising concerns over the firing of immigration judges under the Trump Administration. Durbin’s letter points to what he describes as arbitrary dismissals despite a record backlog in immigration cases and questions whether political motives are behind these actions.
Durbin referenced information from the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), which represents immigration court judges. According to IFPTE, 15 out of 17 recently fired judges were dismissed without cause. In total, since the start of the Trump Administration, 103 judges have either been fired or opted for deferred resignation, sometimes called a “Fork in the Road” offer. Many affected judges are now pursuing legal action against their terminations.
“The Trump Administration has engaged in an unprecedented attack on due process and the rule of law, and the only plausible explanation for firing immigration judges and placing additional strain on overburdened immigration courts is a political one. However, immigration judges have protections from politicized hiring and firing. Though immigration judges are not part of the judiciary and are instead employees of the Department of Justice (DOJ), protections against unwarranted firing exist at all stages of their employment, including during their initial two-year probationary period. Your agency has cast aside these protections through unlawfully targeting judges for termination, making an inefficient mess of our immigration court system, and needlessly wasting taxpayer dollars,” Durbin wrote.
The firings come amid efforts by the administration to speed up deportations by subjecting individuals to expedited removal processes that avoid court review. Reports indicate that agents have been waiting in courthouse hallways as part of this strategy (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/immigrations-arrests-ice-deportations-courthouse-legal-process-ice-rcna209671;https://apnews.com/article/immigration-courts-arreststrump-ice-deportations-fa96435d4ec021cc8ff636b23d80d848;https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2025/0528/immigration-court-ice-deportation-trump).
Congress recently passed legislation allocating more than $3.3 billion to raise the number of immigration judges to 800 and hire additional staff at DOJ (One Big Beautiful Bill Act). Despite this funding increase, Durbin questioned why there was still a reduction in staff numbers.
Durbin highlighted what he described as a clear example of politicized dismissal: Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Jennifer Peyton was terminated just weeks after meeting with him at Chicago’s Immigration Court—a court she had overseen for nearly nine years through both Republican and Democratic administrations (https://abc7chicago.com/post/us-immigration-news-donald-trumps-department-justice-fires-chicago-assistant-chief-judge-jennifer-peyton/17138067/). Peyton reportedly received no reason for her dismissal beyond a brief termination letter citing constitutional authority.
“There is no better example of the current efforts to erode judicial independence than the politicized firing of Assistant Chief Immigration Judge Peyton… Her firing occurred less than two weeks after I visited the Chicago Immigration Court. I understand that immediately after my visit, all staff at the court received an email from EOIR’s Office of Policy ‘reminding’ them that they are not to engage directly with Members of Congress or their staff prior to congressional visits and that all requests need to be forwarded to EOIR’s Office of Policy and DOJ’s Office of Legislative Affairs for coordination. It does not appear that this email was sent out agency-wide, further suggesting it was directly linked to my visit,” Durbin wrote.
“These intimidation tactics and Judge Peyton’s subsequent firing are unacceptable. All federal employees have a fundamental right to directly engage with Congress, individually or collectively, without interference,” Durbin continued.
In his letter, Durbin requested specific data about dismissals within DOJ since January 20, 2025—including numbers covering immigration judges as well as administrative staff—and asked for individual justifications provided for each removal.
He also asked about plans regarding future hiring targets for fiscal years 2025–2026 and how reductions might affect case backlogs currently exceeding 3.4 million cases nationwide (https://apnews.com/article/immigration-court-judges-trump-ice-229830c0779857164a832793c2a8f3e4).
“You have not yet responded to my March 28 letter raising concerns regarding firings of immigration judges. Yet, I continue to hear from constituents regarding your unlawful, arbitrary, and wasteful efforts to cull the immigration judge corps,” Durbin wrote.
The senator concluded by seeking answers about any instructions given related to expedited removals under existing law as well as any planned regulatory changes affecting Board members or judicial designations within DOJ.
