The Justice Department on Monday removed the four top officials from the agency that operates the U.S. immigration courts, reports the Washington Post. The firings are one of the first signs that President Trump and his allies are seeking immediate changes in how asylum claims are processed and want to deliver on promises to fire career staffers who administration officials believed could be obstacles. The four people fired were part of the Executive Office for Immigration Review. They had decades of experience in DOJ and operated the heavily backlogged administrative court that helps determine whether someone who violated immigration laws should be allowed to remain in the U.S. Among the people fired was Sheila McNulty, the chief immigration judge. By Monday evening, McNulty’s webpage explaining her background and job as chief judge had been removed from the Justice Department website.
Also fired were Mary Cheng, acting director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review; Lauren Alder Reid, head of policy for the office; and Jill Anderson, the office’s general counsel. The immigration courts are severely backlogged, and the number of pending cases more than doubled to 3.5 million during the Biden administration. Homeland Security officials have said that immigrants can wait several years for a decision in their court cases. “Those are the people to fire if you think the bureaucracy slowed you down last time,” said one staffer on Capitol Hill. Also Monday, the Trump administration announced that James McHenry, a longtime immigration enforcement official at the Justice Department, would serve as the acting U.S. attorney general while nominee Pam Bondi awaits Senate confirmation. McHenry served during the Biden administration as the Justice Department’s chief administrative hearing officer.
