The dismissals mark the latest in a sweeping overhaul of the immigration court system as the administration accelerates deportation policies nationwide.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Trump Administration has dismissed eight immigration judges in New York City, part of a broad shake-up in the nation’s immigration courts that one ousted judge described as a “Monday afternoon massacre.”
The firings, which took place at 26 Federal Plaza — the New York City headquarters for Immigration and Customs Enforcement — were confirmed by officials from the National Association of Immigration Judges and the Department of Justice, according to The New York Times.
Olivia Cassin, an immigration judge who had been dismissed earlier in November, said the cuts had gutted the city’s immigration court. “The court has been eviscerated,” she told the Times. “It feels like a Monday afternoon massacre.”
Among those terminated was Amiena A. Khan, the assistant chief immigration judge at 26 Federal Plaza, who oversaw a team of judges handling hundreds of deportation and asylum cases weekly. The building has become a central hub for migrant arrests and immigration enforcement actions in New York City.
Before the latest firings, about 90 immigration judges had been dismissed nationwide this year, including six in New York. Federal officials said the country’s immigration court system employs roughly 600 judges, and that 36 of those removed have since been replaced — two of them in New York.
More than 100 immigration judges have been fired or resigned since President Trump took office earlier this year, as the administration intensifies its push to streamline deportations and reduce the backlog of immigration cases. In July alone, 20 immigration judges were removed in a single wave of dismissals.
Several of the recently ousted judges have publicly criticized their terminations, accusing the administration of political interference. In interviews with CBS Evening News, former immigration judges George Pappas, Jennifer Peyton, and Carla Espinoza claimed they were pressured to dismiss cases in alignment with the administration’s enforcement priorities.
“It was arbitrary, unfair,” Pappas told CBS News. “And it’s an attack on the rule of law. It’s an attack on judges.” Peyton added that her termination notice contained no justification, saying, “My email was three sentences. I had no cause. I had no explanation.” Espinoza said the environment inside the courts had become one of unease. “We as judges were in fear, we were concerned,” she said. “That makes it very difficult to be impartial.”
The mass dismissals reflect a growing effort by the administration to reshape the immigration judiciary as part of a broader campaign to expedite deportations and reassert executive control over immigration enforcement nationwide.
Original article
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