In Phoenix, Attorney General Todd Blanche laid out what he called an effort by the Justice Department to reshape immigration courts as part of the Trump administration’s push to accelerate deportations and reduce a backlog of immigration cases.
Blanche, who has led the Justice Department since Pam Bondi was ousted last month, spoke to The Associated Press after appearing at an event in Phoenix called the Border Security Expo. He said the appearance reflected immigration enforcement and border security’s role as priorities in the administration, which has made mass deportations a central aim, according to the AP report.
Blanche said the Justice Department intends to “weed out” immigration judges it believes are ruling too slowly or are not following the law. He said judges should decide cases based on legal requirements rather than personal leanings, describing an oath that prohibits decision-making based on “sympathy” or “your whim.”
“We have a very rigorous process to get people interviewed, approved and then trained up. And then we’ll watch them,” Blanche said when asked about hiring. He said the department has been hiring new immigration judges quickly after receiving funding through Congress last summer, and he said the Justice Department is prioritizing efforts to strip citizenship from people it says defrauded the system, a process known as denaturalization.
Immigration courts, unlike federal courts, are run by the Justice Department, and Blanche said the attorney general can fire judges with fewer restraints than in Article III courts. Critics have argued that the administration’s changes are designed to speed enforcement at the expense of fairness and accuracy, pointing to concerns that courts have become traps for migrants who show up for routine hearings and then face arrest.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association has argued in a policy brief that the Trump administration is “systematically dismantling due process protections in U.S. immigration courts,” and it said the emphasis on speed and enforcement comes ahead of fairness, accuracy and fundamental justice. In the AP report, the group’s criticism was described alongside complaints that decisions narrowed access to asylum and that judges were directed by memos to “fall into line,” while masked officers have been described as handcuffing migrants during closed asylum hearings.
Blanche disputed the criticism in the AP report. He said problems include judges repeatedly delaying cases and other instances where judges are not following the law “because of sympathy towards individuals,” and he said decisions affecting asylum pathways were consistent with the law. He also told AP that he was seeking judges willing to apply legal standards without what he characterized as improper personal influence.
For his part, Blanche said the Justice Department would target “inappropriately” delayed cases and backlogs that he called unacceptable. He said the administration is trying to find different people for those roles as it seeks to cut down the size of the case backlog—an effort he framed as necessary to meet the broader deportation agenda.