DOJ Ends Case Quota For Immigration Judges Set By Trump Admin

The Department of Justice ended a Trump-era case quota for immigration judges, CNN Politics reported on Wednesday.

Judges said the Trump administration’s quota policy prioritized moving through cases quickly rather than due process for all immigrants and wasn’t fair, according to documents obtained by CNN. Immigration judges are tasked with moving through a 1.5 million case backlog, and case quotas didn’t necessarily make a difference in how quickly cases were processed, CNN reported.

“The Agency is in the process of developing new performance measures, drawing from past successful measures and appropriate input, that will accurately reflect the workload of an immigration judge,” a memo obtained by CNN said. “These new performance measures will focus on balance and equity for the various types of docket assignments, and we look forward to sharing them with you shortly.”

Judges were issued a quota of 700 completed cases per year in 2018 as part of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) performance plan, according to the agency.

“Suspension of the metrics is an excellent first step,” National Association of Immigration Judges President Mimi Tsankov said, CNN reported. “We now await the opportunity for management to recognize NAIJ and work with us to establish appropriate measures for the agency to assess its productivity and ensure due process for the parties before us and judges themselves.”

Dozens of immigration judges left their jobs or moved on because of frustrations with the Trump administration’s policies, according to CNN. Some of those who left said the rules undercut their authority.