The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) swore in 42 new immigration judges on Wednesday, assigning them to courts throughout the country, including in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
Attorney General Pam Bondi administered the oath of office to the group, who were chosen after an involved vetting process.
“This Department of Justice has made reducing the immigration court backlog a top priority, and these 42 new highly qualified judges will help us deliver on that goal,” Bondi said in a March 11 statement. “Under the Trump Administration, immigration judges will decide cases based on the law – not politics.”
The EOIR noted that the immigration court logjam has fallen by more than 380,000 cases since Jan. 20, 2025—the day President Donald Trump assumed office for his second term. Prior to being sworn in, the new judges were required to finish an intensive training program before they could assume their new roles on the bench.
The appointees come from diverse legal and public-service backgrounds. Stephen P. Alcorn, a former Customs and Border Protection Office of Chief Counsel attorney, has previous judicial and prosecutorial experience in Oklahoma.
Jeffry S. Brady, who was assigned to the Orlando Immigration Court, retired as chief of staff for the U.S. Special Operations Command unit after a Marine Corps career that entailed judge advocate duties. In addition, Jonathan M. Brent, who was assigned to Los Angeles, previously served as a senior attorney for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He also obtained the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard.
The Department of Justice at the end of 2025 called on legal professionals to apply as deportation judges.
Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the goal was to “restore integrity and honor to our Nation’s Immigration Court system.”
Positions came with salaries as high as $207,500, as well as a 25 percent recruitment incentive. The announcement was posted across the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department social media pages.
The administration fired 12 judges, including 11 immigration judges and one assistant chief immigration judge, from the San Francisco Immigration Court in 2025.
“All judges have a legal, ethical, and professional obligation to be impartial and neutral in adjudicating cases,” an EOIR spokesperson told The Epoch Times at the time. “If a judge violates that obligation by demonstrating a systematic bias in favor of or against either party, EOIR is obligated to take action to preserve the integrity of its system.”
