San Francisco immigration court decimated; more firings, retirements

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco's immigration court is now decimated, down to just four judges left to decide asylum cases starting Jan. 1, from a high of 21 at the start of the year. 

4 judges left out of 21

The latest round of departures include four judges who said they were retiring at the end of this month, according to Milli Atkinson, director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at the Bar Association of San Francisco. She identified the retiring judges as: Howard Davis, Charles Greene, Patrick O’Brien and Joseph Park. 

Atkinson said one more judge, Arwen Swink, was fired by the Trump administration on Friday. 

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the development. 

As of Jan. 1, there will be just four immigration judges on the bench, as 12 immigration judges were fired in San Francisco earlier this year, as well as three at the Concord immigration court – the only two immigration courts in the Bay Area. 

‘Insane caseload’ 

"They're very sudden," Atkinson said in an interview with KTVU on Monday. "And they usually happen on a Friday afternoon."

She added: "For the judges left, this is an insane caseload that they're going to be expected to handle."

The San Francisco immigration court vacancies will be especially impactful, as it is one of the country's busiest courts with a backlog of more than 120,000 cases – the highest in California, according to TRAC Immigration at Syracuse University.

And for those seeking asylum? 

Atkinson said that people who have already waited years to have their cases heard, will have to wait even longer.

"They're pushing these cases out to 2027 and 2028," she said. "People are being forced to continue to prepare for a hearing that they don't know is going to move forward. It's extremely stressful." 

Atkinson said she has one client who has been ready to move forward on her case since 2018. 

But the pandemic slowed down the court schedule, and now, the departing immigration court judges have prolonged her situation even longer.

"It's really difficult for them to be in this place of limbo," Atkinson said. 

Plus, Atkinson said, it takes a lot of work and preparation to prepare for an asylum hearing.

"You're dealing with people who've undergone severe trauma and persecution in their home country," she said. "So to have them relive these experiences in order to prepare for their hearing and then to not know until the day of, that the hearing's canceled, it's really difficult in trying on people who are trying to go through and navigate this process." 

100 immigration judges nationwide

Across the country, more than 100 immigration judges have been forced out of their jobs, leaving roughly 600 immigration judges down from 715 to handle 3.4 million cases, according to Jamie Horowitz, spokesman for the National Association of Immigration Judges. In October, however, the Trump administration hired roughly 35 new full-time and temporary immigration judges, though none will be sent to San Francisco. 

Horowitz said it might be difficult to get a full picture of how many immigration judges have been fired across the country, because "they fire people by email and many judges are off for the holidays. Some may not know that they have been terminated."

Horowitz said it may not be possible to get the exact number of firings and retirements until Jan. 1. 

Huge backlog

There was already a major backlog of cases across the country, and in San Francisco, even before judges were told to leave the bench.

"Well, the immigration court backlog across the country is several millions of cases, and in San Francisco it's among the highest, if not the highest," Central Legal de la Raza attorney Abby Sullivan Elgen said earlier this month. "So now we have a decimated bench." 

Shuting "Ting" Chen, who was fired in November, told KTVU in an earlier interview that she left behind a total of 4,000 cases alone, and she estimated her colleagues all had about the same. 

Government taking action

In an earlier statement about the judges being fired, the Executive Office of Immigration Review said that all judges have a legal, ethical, and professional obligation to be impartial and neutral in adjudicating cases.

If a judge violates that obligation by demonstrating a "systematic bias" in favor of or against either party, the agency said it is obligated to "take action to preserve the integrity of its system."

In an email, a DOJ spokesperson said: "After four years of the Biden Administration forcing Immigration Courts to implement a de facto amnesty for hundreds of thousands of aliens, this Department of Justice is restoring integrity to our immigration system and encourages talented legal professionals to join in our mission to protect national security and public safety."

The EOIR, the formal name of the immigration court system, is an entity within the Department of Justice. Immigration judges serve at the pleasure of the U.S. Attorney General, who is appointed by the president.

‘Attack’ on judicial system

As Atkinson sees it, what's happening is "just an overall attack on the judicial system, the rule of law and due process for everyone when judges are being fired for political reasons."

As most of the immigration judges in San Francisco had higher-than-average grant rates for those seeking asylum from their home countries.

"They're being targeted specifically because they're in San Francisco, and they're not ruling or making decisions based on what the political whims are of the administration," Atkinson said. 

She added that it's "very unfortunate" that at a time when there is a need for more people to be adjudicating cases, it's unfair to see so many judges leaving.

"It's going to make it really difficult for individuals who are eligible for asylum, who are in the United States lawfully following the rules in order to apply for asylum," she said. "And our courts are not set up to give them a fair hearing anymore."

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