Fired Judge TAKES ON TRUMP

Immigration judges are administrative hearing officers employed by the Department of Justice, not Article III judges with lifetime appointments. This makes them susceptible to executive authority and political firings without the same constitutional protections.

The guest states, 'Immigration judges are not judges. They're administrative hearing officers. The immigration judge is just a title. It is not... the authority that they actually hold. Immigration judges are attorneys who work for the attorney general of the United States under her delegated authority.' She later clarifies they 'don't have the protections that are offered that are built into Article III appointments.'

The current administration operates under an ideology of 'detain and deport everyone,' which has led to a disregard for established legal processes and an increase in enforcement actions, even against those complying with the law.

Caldas states, 'this administration, unlike other administrations, has kind of come in not with the idea of how do we solve for the problems of immigration... but rather with we already have a solution. It's just about how do we maximize that solution? The solution is detain and deport everyone.' She notes ICE is 'taking people away right then and there' from court.

Over 100 immigration judges were fired without specific cause, justified by the administration's 'unitary executive theory,' which asserts the president's absolute authority to hire and fire federal employees without interference.

Caldas explains, 'the administration claims were improperly offered and are... improperly and unconstitutionally infringing on executive authority. Right? So under this new unitary executive theory that the administration is advancing, they can fire anyone that they want that works for the federal government without any interference from anyone else.' She received a form letter citing 'the president's constitutional authority.'

The guest was terminated after consistently challenging the government's novel legal interpretations and releasing a respondent based on contradictory evidence. In her final act as a judge, she granted asylum to a deserving individual.

Caldas recounts, 'I said, 'Council, I understand that you're making this argument... but here's the problem that you have. You're telling me you detained someone under specific authority. The documents you filed in this case say that you're actually used as separate authority... I do have authority. So, I'm going to go ahead and exercise that authority and I'm going to release the respondent.' She then describes receiving her termination email mid-hearing and issuing a final asylum decision.

The Board of Immigration Appeals issued a decision supporting the government's novel arguments shortly after the guest's firing, and judges are being scrutinized and fired based on 'statistically improbable grant rates,' implying quotas rather than individualized legal analysis.

Caldas notes, 'a month after I was fired, the Board of Immigration Appeals miraculously issued a decision that tracked word for word the department's argument.' She later adds, 'immigration judges were being terminated because their grant rates were statistically improbable... it presupposes that there is a right percentage of cases that should be granted.'

The Department of Justice is appointing military judges for short terms, who lack immigration law experience and are subject to military justice, raising concerns about their independence and ability to fairly adjudicate complex immigration cases.

Caldas states, 'these are six-month appointments. They're subject to military rule, not civil rule... If you disobey an order as a military judge, you get court marshaled.' She mentions a military judge being removed for 'insubordination' after granting 60% of cases.

The administration is dramatically increasing ICE's workforce and placing more immigrants into proceedings while simultaneously decreasing the number of immigration judges, indicating a deliberate intent to deny due process and accelerate deportations.

Caldas highlights, 'ICE... their workforce has increased by 37% in the last year and the immigration court has decreased by 20%.' She concludes, 'the mismatch between this massive funnel of immigration enforcement and this increasingly small adjudication capacity really what that highlights for me is that there's no intent in this administration to actually offer due process.'