The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington, D.C. (Wikimedia Commons)
AUSTIN, Texas — Nearly two dozen military attorneys were appointed as temporary immigration judges and will begin hearing cases in federal courtrooms across the country immediately, according to the Justice Department.
The appointments come nearly two months after the Pentagon approved a September request for up to 600 military lawyers to help in the immigration court system, as President Donald Trump has pledged to ramp up deportations.
Defense officials have been quiet about the agreement to loan out attorneys and deferred all questions about it to the Justice Department.
Justice officials declined to provide any information not included in Friday’s news release, which listed 11 new immigration judges and 25 new temporary judges.
The judges’ biographies show that 22 have military experience and at least 18 are currently serving. Three of the judges are listed as being active-duty Naval officers and one is active in the Army. The other officers come from the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and Army Reserve forces and the National Guard.
They were assigned to courtrooms in a dozen states, including California, Texas, Florida, Louisiana and New York.
To allow military attorneys to serve as temporary immigration judges, the Executive Office of Immigration Review changed the qualifications for the job — removing the need for past experience in immigration law.
Aside from immigration courts, the Trump administration has asked the military to help with other aspects of the immigration system, including patrolling the U.S. border with Mexico, protecting immigration agents as they conduct arrests and providing administrative and logistics support in immigration detention facilities.
