Overview

• The Executive Office for Immigration Review, with approval from Attorney General Pam Bondi, ended prior immigration-law experience requirements for temporary immigration judges.
• The rule authorizes selection of any attorney for six-month temporary terms that can be renewed without a stated cap, according to the Federal Register notice.
• The policy shift follows the ouster or pressured departures of more than 100 immigration judges from a bench that was about 650, the judges’ union says.
• Advocates and legal experts warn the change could invite politically aligned picks, erode due process, and speed deportations.
• Immigration courts operate within the Justice Department rather than the independent judiciary, and recent tactics including case dismissals and courthouse arrests have already triggered lawsuits and judicial criticism.