A senior official at the American Immigration Lawyers Association has compared the government’s plan to temporarily utilize Department of Defense lawyers as immigration judges to “having a cardiologist perform a hip replacement.” This move by President Donald Trump’s administration aims to alleviate the backlog of immigration cases by involving the military in domestic matters.
The Pentagon announced that hundreds of military and civilian lawyers from the United States Department of Defense will serve in this capacity. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell stated that these DOD attorneys will supplement existing resources by presiding over immigration hearings.
However, military lawyers are not equipped to serve as immigration judges, and one US official noted the challenges they may face even with additional training.
According to a memo obtained by The Associated Press, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized deploying up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department. These lawyers will be divided into groups of 150 and will begin serving as immigration judges as soon as possible, with an initial term of 179 days.
Commenting on this plan, the executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Ben Johnson, expressed concerns about the fairness of decisions made by judges unfamiliar with immigration law. He argued that this decision undermines due process and damages the integrity of the immigration court system.
This development follows the Trump administration’s increased reliance on military support for its crackdown on undocumented immigration. This includes troops patrolling the US-Mexico border, National Guard members assisting with immigration enforcement in US cities, and utilizing military bases and aircraft for deportations.
In a recent ruling, a court held that the Trump administration intentionally violated federal law by deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles in early June.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/3/hundreds-of-us-military-lawyers-to-serve-as-temporary-immigration-judges?traffic_source=rss
