The stakes for people in immigration court proceedings could not be higher. Deportation can, as the Supreme Court recognized almost a century ago, deprive a noncitizen of “all that makes life worth living” [Ng Fung Ho v. White, 259 U.S. 276, 284, 42 S. Ct. 492, 495, 66 L. Ed. 938 (1922).] Yet for the past two years, the integrity of immigration judges’ adjudications has been under attack. The Department of Justice has not only imposed new restrictions on the ability of immigration judges to adjudicate immigration claims but it is now seeking to “decertify” the judges’ union, which has been a significant voice on behalf of immigration judges and their ability to ensure due process. These actions do an injustice both to the judges and to those noncitizens who depend on immigration courts to fairly decide their claims.
Immigration courts are not ordinary Article 3 courts. They are part of the DOJ, which makes the judges vulnerable to politicization as part of the executive branch. In the past two years, DOJ has taken steps to limit the autonomy of immigration judges, setting precedent that prevents them from controlling their dockets, curtailing circumstances under which they can terminate cases and limiting their ability to grant continuances. At the same time, DOJ has imposed performance metrics that base immigration judges’ evaluations on their ability to meet case quotas, giving them a direct financial interest (keeping their jobs) in finishing cases quickly.
