Justice Department’s Immigration Litigators Shrink by Nearly a Quarter as Habeas Petitions Swamp Federal Courts

The Justice Department office that defends immigration decisions in federal court has lost nearly a quarter of its lawyers since January 2025 while its caseload has grown by about 1,800 cases, according to internal department figures reported Monday by The Hill. The squeeze on the Office of Immigration Litigation matters to anyone with a case against the government, because the same lawyers handle the habeas petitions detained immigrants now file by the thousands, the appeals of removal orders, and the new wave of denaturalization suits.

• Attorneys: 320 at the start of the administration, 243 in August, a drop of 77, according to the documents The Hill obtained.
• Open cases: about 7,700 then, nearly 9,500 by August, by the same account.
• Habeas filings: 9,059 immigration habeas petitions in federal district courts in March 2026, up from 105 in March 2025, according to data compiled by TRAC at Syracuse University.

How bond hearings became federal lawsuits

The driver is detention policy. In 2025 the administration began treating people who entered without inspection, including long-time residents, as “applicants for admission” subject to mandatory detention under INA section 235(b)(2), which takes away an immigration judge’s power to set bond. The government’s position is that the statute requires detention. Detainees who disagree have one place to go: a federal judge, through a habeas petition. Each petition lands on the government’s side of the courtroom as a case someone must answer, often on a deadline measured in days.

TRAC’s data show the scale. Federal courts received 9,911 new immigration suits in March 2026, compared with 945 a year earlier, and 41,887 over the 12 months ending in March. From October 2025 through March 2026, 31,357 habeas petitions were filed in 82 of the country’s 90 federal districts, led by the Western District of Texas with 3,448. Gregory Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association told The Hill the denial of bond hearings was “the most obvious reason for the surge.”

What a thinner government bench means in practice

Habeas is not the office’s only job. It also defends Board of Immigration Appeals decisions in the circuit courts and agency actions challenged by employers, universities and states. With each lawyer carrying more cases, three effects are worth watching.

More extensions and thinner filings. Courts can grant the government extra time, which slows relief for detainees and petitioners alike. Where they do not, rushed responses become more likely. Federal judges are already scrutinizing the government’s conduct in detention cases: in recent weeks a magistrate judge in Denver weighed sanctions over a bond-hearing order that was not followed, and a judge in Phoenix ordered a federal prosecutor to take training over an unsupported claim, both covered here. Neither case was tied to staffing, but both show courts watching the government’s detention work closely.

Competition for scarce lawyers. The department said it filed 40 denaturalization cases between late August and early October, which it called the largest volume in a single period under this administration, according to The Hill. Civil denaturalization suits are document-heavy and draw on the same pool of immigration litigators as the habeas docket.

A possible reset from the Supreme Court. The justices are set to review the mandatory detention policy this term, The Hill noted. A ruling for the government would likely cut off many habeas claims at the threshold; a ruling against it would send bond questions back to immigration judges. Either outcome would reshape this docket more than any hiring plan could.

For detained immigrants and their families, the practical point is that a habeas petition is now the main route to a bond hearing, and its timeline depends partly on how quickly an overstretched government office can respond.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice.

Sources

• Internal DOJ documents tell story on caseload surge amid Trump immigration moves (The Hill, Oct. 12, 2026)
• Surge in Immigration Lawsuits Hits Record High in 2026, data through March 2026 (TRAC, Syracuse University, May 11, 2026)
• Federal Judge in Denver Weighs Sanctioning an Immigration Judge (Immigration Analytics, Oct. 11, 2026)
• Arizona Judge Sanctions Federal Prosecutor (Immigration Analytics, Oct. 11, 2026)

About the Author

Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Esq.

Administrator

Vasanth Vaidyanathan is an immigration attorney with over 20 years of experience focused exclusively on U.S. immigration and nationality law. He holds a LL.M. from California Western School of Law, San Deigo and advises individuals and businesses on employment and family-based immigration matters, including H-1B, PERM, EB categories, and adjustment of status. He has also been a featured speaker at immigration seminars across the U.S. To reach Vasanth visit: https://www.vnathan.com/

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