Immigration judge says Trump administration’s firings and policies are ‘disheartening’
In a July 8, 2026 PBS NewsHour interview with Ali Rogin, Judge Holly D’Andrea — a Texas immigration judge since 2019 and president of the National Association of Immigration Judges — described low morale on the bench as roughly 200 judges have been fired, resigned, or retired, shifting an estimated 700 cases each onto remaining dockets. She raised concerns about shortened training for newly hired judges, about rapidly shifting law that has forced same-week reversals in courtroom practice, and about judges facing discipline for following law over policy. She argued the fix is an independent Article I immigration court, removed from Justice Department oversight.