DOJ adds 42 new immigration judges with Trump-aligned enforcement records
Every delay has consequences.
The Justice Department this week added 42 new immigration judges across courts in California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia, marking the latest step in the Trump administration’s effort to reshape the immigration court system with appointees whose records align more closely with its hard-line deportation agenda.
The new judges were sworn in during an investiture ceremony at the DOJ’s Great Hall in Washington, with Attorney General Pam Bondi administering the oath on Wednesday. The Executive Office for Immigration Review said the appointments are part of its push to reduce the immigration court backlog, which the agency says has fallen by more than 380,000 cases since Jan. 20 last year.
Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives before President Donald Trump gives the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
“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 statement. “Under the Trump Administration, immigration judges will decide cases based on the law not politics.”
But the makeup of the new class underscores a broader ideological shift inside the immigration court system. Many of the appointees come from prosecutorial, law enforcement, military, or immigration-enforcement backgrounds rather than defense-aligned immigration advocacy work.
Several previously served in immigration enforcement roles within the Department of Homeland Security. Stephen P. Alcorn, now assigned to the Sterling Immigration Court, worked as an attorney and legal instructor for Customs and Border Protection at the U.S. Border Patrol Academy, for example.
Jonathan M. Brent, assigned to the Los Angeles immigration court on Van Nuys Boulevard, served for years as a senior attorney and deputy assistant chief counsel for CBP. Corey A. Combs, now in Newark, previously worked as an assistant chief counsel with ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, while Christopher Cusmano, assigned to New York’s Federal Plaza court, also came from ICE, according to the DOJ’s press release.
A few of the appointees also have records suggesting more overt alignment with Trump-era immigration priorities.
Kieran M. Lalor, a former Republican New York assemblyman now assigned to the Ulster Immigration Court, previously criticized …
Every delay has consequences.
The Justice Department this week added 42 new immigration judges across courts in California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia, marking the latest step in the Trump administration’s effort to reshape the immigration court system with appointees whose records align more closely with its hard-line deportation agenda.
The new judges were sworn in during an investiture ceremony at the DOJ’s Great Hall in Washington, with Attorney General Pam Bondi administering the oath on Wednesday. The Executive Office for Immigration Review said the appointments are part of its push to reduce the immigration court backlog, which the agency says has fallen by more than 380,000 cases since Jan. 20 last year.
Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives before President Donald Trump gives the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
“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 statement. “Under the Trump Administration, immigration judges will decide cases based on the law not politics.”
But the makeup of the new class underscores a broader ideological shift inside the immigration court system. Many of the appointees come from prosecutorial, law enforcement, military, or immigration-enforcement backgrounds rather than defense-aligned immigration advocacy work.
Several previously served in immigration enforcement roles within the Department of Homeland Security. Stephen P. Alcorn, now assigned to the Sterling Immigration Court, worked as an attorney and legal instructor for Customs and Border Protection at the U.S. Border Patrol Academy, for example.
Jonathan M. Brent, assigned to the Los Angeles immigration court on Van Nuys Boulevard, served for years as a senior attorney and deputy assistant chief counsel for CBP. Corey A. Combs, now in Newark, previously worked as an assistant chief counsel with ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, while Christopher Cusmano, assigned to New York’s Federal Plaza court, also came from ICE, according to the DOJ’s press release.
A few of the appointees also have records suggesting more overt alignment with Trump-era immigration priorities.
Kieran M. Lalor, a former Republican New York assemblyman now assigned to the Ulster Immigration Court, previously criticized …
DOJ adds 42 new immigration judges with Trump-aligned enforcement records
Every delay has consequences.
The Justice Department this week added 42 new immigration judges across courts in California, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia, marking the latest step in the Trump administration’s effort to reshape the immigration court system with appointees whose records align more closely with its hard-line deportation agenda.
The new judges were sworn in during an investiture ceremony at the DOJ’s Great Hall in Washington, with Attorney General Pam Bondi administering the oath on Wednesday. The Executive Office for Immigration Review said the appointments are part of its push to reduce the immigration court backlog, which the agency says has fallen by more than 380,000 cases since Jan. 20 last year.
Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives before President Donald Trump gives the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
“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 statement. “Under the Trump Administration, immigration judges will decide cases based on the law not politics.”
But the makeup of the new class underscores a broader ideological shift inside the immigration court system. Many of the appointees come from prosecutorial, law enforcement, military, or immigration-enforcement backgrounds rather than defense-aligned immigration advocacy work.
Several previously served in immigration enforcement roles within the Department of Homeland Security. Stephen P. Alcorn, now assigned to the Sterling Immigration Court, worked as an attorney and legal instructor for Customs and Border Protection at the U.S. Border Patrol Academy, for example.
Jonathan M. Brent, assigned to the Los Angeles immigration court on Van Nuys Boulevard, served for years as a senior attorney and deputy assistant chief counsel for CBP. Corey A. Combs, now in Newark, previously worked as an assistant chief counsel with ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, while Christopher Cusmano, assigned to New York’s Federal Plaza court, also came from ICE, according to the DOJ’s press release.
A few of the appointees also have records suggesting more overt alignment with Trump-era immigration priorities.
Kieran M. Lalor, a former Republican New York assemblyman now assigned to the Ulster Immigration Court, previously criticized …
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