The independence of the immigration courts system is under unprecedented political pressure after U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions moved to implement a tougher regime of quotas and deadlines for the backlogged courts, the head of a judges’ union said Friday.

Judge Ashley Tabaddor, the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, sounded the alarm on Sessions’ rules in a press conference Friday. Tabaddor is an immigration judge in Los Angeles, but spoke in her role as the head of the union.