The immigration courts long have been subject to criticism for bias, a lack of independence, and incompetence. Mary Holper has used the phrase "U.S. imitation judges" to refer to immigration judges.

Under President Trump's leadership, immigration judges have been leaving the bench in record numbers.  And the Trump administration is appointing its brand of new immigration judges.  A few days ago, the Executive Office for Immigration Review announced the appointment of 46 new immigration judges.

Noah Lenard for Mother Jones (See link below "He Defended Anti-Gay and Anti-Muslim Causes. Now He’s an Immigration Judge.") looks at some of the newly appointed immigration judges, which will not calm any of the skeptics about the immigration courts.  Lenard writes:

"Last week, the Justice Department announced that it had hired [Brandon] Bolling, a former Marine and federal attorney, to be an assistant chief immigration judge in Texas, even though he has no discernible immigration experience. During two stints at the Thomas More Law Center—neither of which is disclosed in his government bio—Bolling worked on numerous cases that pitted his clients against Muslims and the gay community. Now Bolling will help oversee the immigration cases of people detained in El Paso, and could be responsible for deciding whether victims of persecution based on their religions and sexual orientations receive protection under US asylum laws.

Bolling is one of 46 new immigration judges recently hired by the Trump administration. Another is Matt O’Brien, who served as the research director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, one of the country’s leading anti-immigrant groups. The decision to hire both men is an escalation of the Trump administration’s efforts to select judges sympathetic to its anti-immigration agenda." (bold added).

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