The United Nations has raised fresh concerns about the independence of immigration court judges in Chicago and across the United States. The UN says some immigration decisions made by President Donald Trump‘s administration may violate international law.
Since the start of Trump’s second term, more than 100 immigration court judges have been fired across the country. The judges who remain have also been given new instructions by the Justice Department to speed up deportation cases.
The UN is now warning that these changes could threaten the independence of immigration judges and raise serious questions about whether immigrants are getting a fair chance to defend themselves.
UN raises concerns over immigration judges
Margaret Satterthwaite, the United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, told ABC’s I-Team that the changes made by the administration go beyond simply reducing the number of judges.
“It’s not just that they were downsizing; they were replacing. And the way they replaced them was to put out recruitment calls for not immigration judges, but deportation judges,” Satterthwaite said.
She monitors judicial independence around the world and said the firing of immigration judges, including those in Chicago, looks like a politically motivated effort to take control of people who are supposed to make independent decisions.
“It’s a real concern to see this system going much further away from independence than even it may have begun with, is that these are life-or-death matters for many people,” Satterthwaite said.
Asylum seekers need independent decisions, UN says
Immigration judges are part of the executive branch of the US government, rather than the independent judicial branch.
However, Satterthwaite said international law requires people who are seeking asylum because they fear persecution or torture to have their cases decided by an independent authority.
“It requires that the individual not be a partisan, that they be allowed and capable of making decisions without interference or undue threat or pressure,” Satterthwaite said. “So, those binding obligations on the US are highly relevant here, and I’m very concerned that they may be violated.”
The concerns come as the Trump administration continues to push for faster deportations across the country.
Former Chicago judge says immigration courts are under pressure
The I-Team also spoke with former Chicago immigration judge Carla Espinoza, who said judges who remain in the system are facing pressure from the administration.
“They want to speed up deportations, and so they want to move those cases along, maybe without regard to giving them time to contest the federal litigation, seeking their freedom, their release,” said Espinoza, who now works with EZG Immigration Law.
The comments come as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement released new figures this week showing the results of the administration’s large-scale deportation efforts.
ICE claims that more than 350,000 people have been removed from the United States since October last year.
UN warns about the speed of immigration cases
Satterthwaite also raised concerns about the number of cases some immigration judges are expected to handle.
“Having more than 100 or even maybe 200 individual immigration cases come before one judge in a matter of a few hours,” Satterthwaite said.
“So, that’s a grave concern for due process and for a fair trial.” She said the heavy workload could make it difficult for judges to properly consider each person’s case and give them enough time to present their arguments.
Satterthwaite also pointed to the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, saying it provides due process protections to everyone in the United States, not only American citizens.
