Attorney General adds 28 immigration judges, including two in California border court
Attorney General adds 28 immigration judges, including two in California border courts
https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/d...n0x-snap-image[COLOR=var(--primaryTextColor)]The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which employs immigration judges, is part of the Department of Justice.
(John Gibbins / U-T San Diego)
The number of immigration judges has risen to more than 465, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, part of the Department of Justice.
By KATE MORRISSEY
DEC. 23, 2019 11:55 AM
The immigration courts in Otay Mesa and Imperial will receive new judges after Attorney General William Barr appointed 28 more immigration judges on Friday.
The new hires raises the total number to more than 465, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the agency in the Department of Justice that is responsible for immigration court. That’s the highest number of immigration judges in history, the agency said.
Eight of the new judges will be stationed in California courts.
Amelia Anderson, who previously worked from 2010 to 2019 as an attorney for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego, will begin hearing cases at the Otay Mesa Immigration Court in January.
Anderson also spent time as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of California from 2017 to 2018. As part of that work, she represented the federal government in criminal cases involving the border for crimes like illegal entry or reentry and smuggling of drugs or people, according to court records.
Earlier in her career, she was an attorney advisor at the San Diego Immigration Court.
Eugene Robinson, who will begin hearing cases at the Imperial Immigration Court in January, most recently worked as deputy chief for hearings in the State Office of Administrative Hearings in Texas from 2018 to 2019.
Robinson spent much of his career — more than two decades — as a military judge and judge advocate, serving at Camp Pendleton and in Okinawa, Japan, among several Marine Corps bases.
People on all sides of the immigration debate have long argued that more immigration judges are needed in order to work through a backlog of cases that leaves many waiting years for resolution in their cases.
“You are taking on your duties at a critical time,” said Claire McCusker Murray, principal deputy associate attorney general, to the judges when they were sworn in, according to a copy of her speech.
“Significant increases in caseloads in recent years have taxed EOIR’s resources to an unprecedented degree. Although EOIR is completing cases at a historic level, the flow of new cases continues unabated.”
Some critics have said that the current administration’s policies outside of judge hiring have contributed to the backlog rather than reduced it. Others have said that EOIR hasn’t kept up with hiring enough support staff like translators to keep all of the additional courtrooms running as efficiently as possible.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...-border-courts
