New Immigration Judges: 6 of 22 Came From ICE Jobs

The Justice Department swore in 22 new immigration judges and four temporary immigration judges on Oct. 22, and the agency’s own biographies show where much of the rebuilt bench is coming from. Six of the 22 permanent judges moved directly from jobs as trial attorneys in ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, the office that argues for removal in the same courts, and all four temporary judges are serving Navy lawyers. The new judges began hearing cases this month.

This is the fourth class in a monthly run. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announced 37 permanent judges on July 29, 35 on Aug. 27 and 47 on Sept. 24, bringing the total to 141 permanent and 17 temporary judges in under three months, based on the agency’s four announcements. They inherit 3,469,569 pending cases, EOIR’s count as of June 30. The debate over the courts has centered on how many judges there are. For anyone with a case, who they are now matters as much.

What the new immigration judges did before the bench

Most recent job before appointment	Permanent judges	Temporary judges
ICE trial attorney (Office of the Principal Legal Advisor)	6	0
State or local government (prosecutors, county attorneys, state hearing officers, state appellate court)	5	0
Private practice or in-house counsel	5	0
Other federal agencies (three Justice Department posts, the IRS, a federal review commission)	5	0
Military	1	4
Total	22	4

Source: EOIR biographical information for the judges announced Oct. 22, 2026. Categories reflect the most recent position each biography lists and are a classification based on those biographies.

The latest job is only part of the picture. Tracy C. Riley, assigned to Adelanto, Calif., was an ICE assistant chief counsel from 2020 to 2025 before a stint as a special assistant U.S. attorney, which makes seven of 22 permanent judges with ICE trial experience. Military service, active or reserve, appears in seven of the 22 permanent biographies.

Moving from the government’s trial table to the bench has long been a common route into the immigration judiciary, so former ICE lawyers in a new class are not unusual. The timing is what stands out: four of the six joined ICE as counsel in October 2025 and reached the bench about a year later. The practical effect is a set of judges whose courtroom experience in immigration is recent, short and on the government’s side. That predicts nothing about any individual ruling, but defense lawyers will weigh it as they prepare.

Navy lawyers on six-month terms

The four temporary judges are Navy judge advocates, two of them recently chief special trial counsel. They serve under 8 C.F.R. 1003.10(e), which an August 2025 rule broadened so the EOIR director, with the attorney general’s approval, can designate any attorney as a temporary judge for renewable terms of up to six months, according to the Congressional Research Service. The regulation gives a temporary judge “the authority of an immigration judge to adjudicate assigned cases.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized up to 600 military lawyers for the role in August 2025, The Associated Press reported.

EOIR counted 53 temporary judges on June 30, alongside 662 permanent ones, and leaves temporary judges out of its judge hiring table. Three of the four new temporary judges went to courts that mostly hear detained cases, Miami’s Krome court, Oakdale, La., and Tacoma, Wash., and the fourth to San Diego. Detained dockets move fastest, so even a six-month term there can produce many final decisions.

Five judges go to adjudication centers

Five permanent judges were assigned to immigration adjudication centers rather than conventional courts: three in Falls Church, Va., one in Richmond and one in Fort Worth. NPR reported in September that the Falls Church building, home to EOIR’s headquarters, is not normally used for in-person immigrant hearings, and that EOIR did not answer its questions about the new locations. Four more judges went to New York’s two Manhattan courts, where turnover and remote judging have drawn scrutiny, as earlier coverage of judges hired for remote posts described.

New judges taking over dockets often reset schedules, so respondents should confirm each hearing date directly with EOIR, using the steps in this guide on how to check an immigration court date. That matters more after Matter of Chamorro Castillo, in which the Board of Immigration Appeals held that a returned notice can support an in absentia order.

What comes next for the bench

Year-end staffing data: EOIR’s hiring table runs only through June 30. Fiscal 2026 year-end figures will show whether the summer classes added judges or mostly replaced departures.
The next class: EOIR has announced a class in the fourth week of each month since July; a late-November group would continue the pattern.
The statutory ceiling: The 2025 reconciliation law authorizes no more than 800 immigration judges, effective Nov. 1, 2028, according to the Congressional Research Service.

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

Sources

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/

Author's website Author's posts