On Monday, the Trump administration reportedly dismissed eight immigration judges in New York City as part of a broader initiative aimed at accelerating the deportation of undocumented immigrants.
All eight judges were from the 26 Federal Plaza office, which is one of three federal immigration courts in New York City. Sources familiar with the situation, as reported by the New York Times, confirmed this information.
The New York Times noted that officials from the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Association of Immigration Judges, the union for immigration judges, discussed the matter with reporters but requested to remain anonymous.
The judges who were let go include Amiena A. Khan, an assistant immigration judge who supervises other judges in that office.
This year alone has seen around 90 immigration judges lose their jobs nationwide, not counting those who were let go on Monday. The total number of immigration judges in the U.S. stands at about 600, according to federal data.
Olivia Cashin, an immigration judge dismissed from a different New York City court last month, labeled her firing a “Monday afternoon massacre.”
“The court was basically gutted,” Cashin told the New York Times. “It feels like a Monday afternoon massacre.”
These firings are a part of a larger push to ensure that undocumented immigrants are effectively removed from the country, coinciding with President Donald Trump’s intensified deportation efforts.
Additionally, the dismissals came just two days after nearly 200 people gathered in Manhattan to protest against a potential ICE raid, and only days following the fatal shooting of two National Guardsmen near the White House by a suspect later identified as an Afghan national.
On Thursday, a day after 29-year-old Afghan man Rahmanullah Rakanwal was charged with the shooting, where one Guardsman was killed and another seriously injured, President Trump announced plans to “permanently suspend immigration from all Third World countries.”
The president also mentioned he would be reviewing green cards for immigrants from 19 high-risk countries and pledged to revoke “millions” of admissions approved during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
On Monday, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem declared a “total travel ban” from countries she described as filled with “murderers, leeches, and rights junkies” during a meeting with President Trump.
