Donald Trump's administration took a new step in its immigration toughening strategy by incorporating the largest promotion of immigration judges in the recent history of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The measure seeks to accelerate deportation processes and reduce the enormous backlog accumulated in the country's immigration courts.

According to CBS News, 77 permanent immigration judges and five temporary judges were sworn in this week, amid pressure from the Republican government to reinforce its policy of mass deportations.

The announcement comes in a context of increasing immigration operations, restrictions on asylum and new measures promoted by the White House to strengthen border control and expedite expulsions of immigrants without legal status.

“President Trump is committed to restoring the rule of law in the immigration system,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an official statement released after the swearing-in ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Immigration courts under pressure

Immigration courts across the country are currently facing a historic backlog of cases. According to official data cited by the Department of Justice, the backlog exceeded 4 million files, driven mainly by the increase in asylum applications and border crossings registered in recent years.

The Trump administration assures that the incorporation of new judges will reduce waiting times and accelerate deportation resolutions.

Federal officials noted that the number of pending cases has already decreased to about 3.5 million since January 2025, although immigrant advocacy organizations question the way many files are being processed.

Immigration judges are responsible for deciding whether a person can legally remain in the United States or whether they should be deported. Although they carry the title of judges, they are actually part of the executive branch and report directly to the Department of Justice.

This detail has generated strong criticism among lawyers and immigration organizations, who consider that the Trump administration is using the courts as tools of immigration enforcement.

Criticism of “deportation judges”

One of the aspects that has generated the most controversy is that the federal government began to publicly refer to these officials as “deportation judges” in official job offers.

For activists and immigration specialists, this language reflects an attempt to guide immigration courts toward faster and more severe decisions against immigrants.

Greg Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), accused the government of pressuring judges to act as “instruments of law enforcement” rather than impartial arbiters.

“The Trump administration is trying to turn immigration courts into pieces of its mass deportation campaign,” Chen stated.

Criticism also increased after the administration fired more than 100 immigration judges over the last year, several of them appointed during the Joe Biden administration.

Some of the removed judges assured that they were removed for not promoting deportations quickly enough or for having previous experience defending immigrants.

More deportations and fewer asylum options

In addition to the increase in judges, the aforementioned media pointed out that the Department of Justice has issued new guidelines that limit the possibilities of obtaining asylum, reduce options for release on bail and tighten the criteria for legally remaining in the country while an immigration case is resolved.

Most of the newly appointed judges previously worked as ICE attorneys, federal prosecutors or members of the armed forces, according to official biographies published by the government.

For immigration experts, the strategy is part of Trump's broader plan to accelerate deportations before millions of pending cases continue to grow in the courts.