Trump fires 8 immigration judges in New York City

The Trump administration fired eight immigration judges in 🗽New York City on Dec. 1, 2025, all based at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan. The firings were confirmed by the National Association of Immigration Judges and a Justice Department official speaking anonymously. Among those dismissed was AKAmiena Khan, the Assistant Chief Immigration Judge who supervised other judges at 26 Federal Plaza, the downtown Manhattan complex housing the city's main immigration court and local ICE headquarters.

The fired NYC judges had asylum grant rates significantly higher than the national average. According to government data from TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse), the seven judges fired on Dec. 1 granted asylum 85.5% of the time on average—more than 20 percentage points higher than 🗽New York's average before Trump took office. Immigration Judge DSDavid S. Kim, who was fired, had the highest asylum approval rate of all immigration judges at 26 Federal Plaza. Between 2019-2024, Assistant Chief Judge AKAmiena Khan ruled on 620 asylum cases and granted 544, denying only 10.3% compared to 34.8% denied by other NYC immigration judges.

Immigration judges lack the independence protections of Article III federal judges. They're civil servants appointed by the Attorney General, not Article III judges with lifetime tenure appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) operates within the Department of Justice, creating a structural conflict where DOJ both employs the 'neutral' judges and serves as the prosecutor (through DHS) seeking deportations. The Attorney General can personally take any immigration case, decide it, and bind every immigration judge nationwide with that decision.

The Dec. 1 firings were part of a broader purge of immigration judges nationwide. By Dec. 2025, approximately 90 immigration judges had been fired across the United States during the year, with only 36 replacements hired. The immigration judge workforce dropped from about 700 at the beginning of 2025 to below 600 by Dec.. Of the 18 judges who left the bench since Jan. 2025, only three were former ICE prosecutors while 12 had represented immigrants before their appointments, suggesting Trump targeted judges with immigration defense backgrounds.

AKAmiena Khan was specifically targeted on the Heritage Foundation-funded 'DHS Bureaucrat Watchlist' that aims to identify 'subversive' federal workers. The watchlist targeted Khan for her work with the National Association of Immigration Judges union and her advocacy against Trump's Department of Justice attempts to dissolve the union during Trump's first term. Khan had publicly opposed DOJ interference in judicial independence, making her a target for dismissal when Trump returned to office.

The firings exacerbate an already severe immigration court backlog exceeding 3.7 million pending cases nationwide. 🗽New York alone has 338,388 pending cases in its immigration courts. Each fired judge leaves behind thousands of scheduled cases. One former immigration judge stated their backlog was already filled through 2027, and with the firings, hearing dates would be pushed back to 2028 or later. Immigration attorneys warn the mass firings create a 'climate of fear' where remaining judges fear granting asylum at rates that might trigger their own dismissal.

Immigration Judge TNTania Nemer filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice after being fired, alleging discrimination based on her gender, dual citizenship with Lebanon, and her previous candidacy for local office as a Democrat. A group of terminated immigration judges filed a class appeal before the Merit Systems Protection Board challenging the mass firings. Legal challenges argue the firings violate due process and judicial independence protections, though immigration judges lack the constitutional protections of Article III judges.

The systematic targeting of judges with high asylum grant rates transforms immigration courts from neutral adjudicators into deportation machinery. Immigration attorney RGRamon Guerra stated the firings send 'a very chilling message to any immigration judge to toe the party line,' warning judges may think 'if I don't maintain a certain amount of deportations, I'm going to get in trouble.' This politicization of immigration courts undermines due process for the 3.7 million people with pending cases who have constitutional rights to fair hearings regardless of immigration status.