The Trump administration has canned 20 “midnight” immigration judges the Biden administration tried to shoehorn onto the courts in its final days, The Washington Times has learned.
Thirteen judges hired in late December and early January were ousted Friday, a Justice Department source said.
Seven assistant chief immigration judges were also axed.
The housecleaning matches one the Biden administration did when it took office in 2021, clearing out many Trump picks from the immigration courts.
Among the new firings, according to the department source, was Kerry Doyle. She had been a critic of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before she was appointed to be ICE’s principal legal adviser.
While at ICE, she shepherded through lenient policies toward illegal immigrants. The Biden administration then tried to burrow her into the regular civil service by converting her from a political appointee, the department source said.
Ms. Doyle’s name was still listed on the court list of the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review as of Friday night.
EOIR used to be considered outside political give-and-take, but when Joe Biden took over, his administration moved to weed out people it saw as too tied to President Trump.
By 2023, the Biden administration had purged six of the 10 senior executive posts at EOIR.
And more than 10 immigration judges recruited in the Trump era were terminated at the end of their probationary period or resigned instead of being fired, The Times reported.
The Trump Justice Department sees its moves as following in those footsteps.
“The Biden administration set a precedent by terminating numerous immigration judges during their term or trial periods for the first time in EOIR history. So, it’s not surprising that EOIR is following that precedent,” the senior department official said.
The Times has sought comment from immigration lawyer groups.
Immigration judges are not part of the regular courts. Rather, they’re employees of EOIR.
The ousted judges hadn’t been through training or heard any cases.
The firings come weeks after the Trump administration decapitated the leadership that Mr. Biden installed at EOIR.
Fired in January were the acting director at EOIR, the chief immigration judge, the general counsel and the head of policy.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.