Immigration judge among 20 fired by Trump says "caseload will balloon" as courts already deal with backlog
Source: CBS News
February 20, 2025 / 11:34 AM EST
A judge who was expecting to hear hundreds of immigration cases a year — but was fired by President Trump the week before she was supposed to start — said she expects the immigration "caseload will balloon." In Boston and other cities, immigration cases stacked up as migrant crossings along the U.S. southern border surged. While crossings have since come down, the case numbers will keep adding up, said Kerry Doyle, who anticipated hearing up to 700 cases a year regarding asylum, permanent residence and removal — until she was fired.
Immigration courts are already dealing with a backlog of about 4 million cases. "Don't forget that cases come into the system, not just from the border, but from the existing people that are in the United States," Doyle said. "So as you ramp up removal … they're getting put in front of the immigration judge, so that caseload will balloon."
The Trump administration enacted a pause on all immigration applications filed by migrants from Latin America and Ukraine allowed into the United States under certain Biden-era programs, citing fraud and security concerns, according to an internal memo obtained by CBS News and two U.S. officials. Days earlier, the president fired at least 20 immigration judges – Doyle among them.
CBS News asked the Department of Justice why Doyle and other judges were terminated. A spokesperson declined to comment on personnel matters.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-immigration-judge-fired-caseload-will-balloon-kerry-doyle/