The notices arrived quietly—just a brief, three-line email with no ceremony or explanation. Yet the message was crystal clear: the era of activist immigration judges bending the rules is over.
Nearly 50 federal immigration judges have been abruptly dismissed, despite a Biden-era backlog of over three million cases clogging the system. Now that President Donald Trump has returned to the White House, he’s making good on his vow to restore order not only at the border but inside the courtroom as well, according to El Pais.
Predictably, many of the ousted judges—once shielded by their official stature—are now speaking out, claiming their firings were unfair, retaliatory, or discriminatory.
Jennifer Peyton, appointed under Obama and on the bench since 2016, says she was blindsided while on vacation. No disciplinary marks, glowing performance reviews—and still, she was cut loose. She blames conservative watchdogs and even a tour she gave to Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin, who decried her firing as an “abuse of power.” But to outside observers, it looks more like the swamp is finally being drained, one entrenched bureaucrat at a time.
The immigration judges’ union—a group hardly known for backing Trump—confirms about 50 judges have been dismissed, with another 50 transferred or pushed into retirement. Union president Matt Biggs says many remaining judges feel “threatened.” Such is the price when a bloated bureaucracy, long immune to consequences, finally faces accountability.
Carla Espinoza, a short-term judge from Chicago, claims her contract wasn’t renewed due to her gender and Hispanic surname. Yet her high-profile case involved releasing a Mexican national accused—falsely, as she ruled—of threatening the President, a claim flagged by Homeland Security. Now out of a job, she’s framing it as discrimination.
The reality? These dismissals are less about race or gender and more about judges undermining Trump’s immigration policies. Judges surprised by their termination after blocking cases flagged by Homeland Security aren’t victims—they’re facing consequences.
Erez Reuveni, a former DOJ lawyer who defended Trump’s immigration agenda, says he was fired after refusing to label a deported Salvadoran a terrorist—despite admitting the case was mishandled. Now a whistleblower, he claims DOJ leadership fast-tracks deportations and overrides judicial decisions. What he calls “manipulation” millions see as long-overdue efficiency.