Terminated immigration judges, president of Judges’ Union to speak on purge, threats to due process

Three recently terminated federal immigration judges and the national president of their union will address the recent dismissal of dozens of immigration judges and its implications for due process at a National Press Club Headliners Newsmaker on Thursday, Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. 

Doors open at 9:30 a.m. with the program starting promptly at 10 a.m. Register to attend here. 

Since January 20, amid heightened immigration enforcement priorities under the Trump administration, 82 immigration judges have been dismissed without stated cause. Dozens more have departed through early-out offers or retirement.  At the same time, the already burdened immigration court system faces a backlog exceeding 3.4 million cases. 

In July, Congress authorized the hiring of up to 800 judges, along with teams of translators, schedulers and lawyers, to alleviate the crisis. However, the total number of sitting immigration judges has fallen from roughly 700 at the start of the year to about 600 today.  

The administration has also changed hiring rules for temporary immigration judges, eliminating the requirement for prior immigration law experience. In their place, it has begun recruiting and training military attorneys for six-month terms following abbreviated training. This month, some of these military lawyers have begun conducting hearings. 

Speakers at the event include: 

• Anam R. Petit, former immigration judge at the Annandale, Va., Immigration Court (September 2023–September 2025). Before her judicial appointment, Petit practiced law privately and served as a law professor at Georgetown University. 

• Emmett Soper, former immigration judge in Virginia, who served nine years on the bench until his termination in August. He previously held multiple positions within the Department of Justice beginning in 2005. 

• Ted Doolittle, former immigration judge at the Hartford Immigration Court, where he was one of only two judges serving before his termination in September. His prior roles include positions in both public and private practice and six years as Connecticut’s Healthcare Advocate. 

• Matt Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), representing more than 90,000 highly skilled workers in the public and private sectors. The National Association of Immigration Judges is an IFPTE affiliate. 

The panelists will discuss the impact of these dismissals on judicial independence, due process, and the functioning of the nation’s immigration courts. 

To submit a question in advance for the panelists, please put JUDGES in the subject line and email to [email protected]. The deadline for submitting questions in advance is 10 a.m. on the day of the event.