The Trump administration is pushing its immigration enforcement strategy beyond border operations and into the judicial system, launching a nationwide recruitment campaign aimed at rapidly expanding the ranks of deportation judges as removals accelerate across the country.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently amplified its messaging around immigration judge recruitment, encouraging Americans to apply for positions within the Justice Department (DOJ) that oversee removal proceedings.
Administration officials have framed the effort as essential to restoring functionality to an immigration system they argue has been crippled by years of delay, abuse and inconsistent enforcement.
The recruitment effort aligns with a newly updated DOJ hiring portal that emphasizes the scope and impact of deportation judges’ authority.
DOJ materials describe the position as one with long-term legal implications, charging judges with deciding whether illegal aliens may remain in the United States or must be removed under federal law.
Listed salaries range from approximately $160,000 to more than $207,000 per year, with additional recruitment incentives offered for assignments in high-cost metropolitan areas including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, according to Newsmax.
Although DHS is promoting the initiative, immigration judges operate under the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, not DHS.
Their responsibilities include presiding over removal cases, asylum claims and other immigration-related proceedings.
According to federal hiring guidelines, applicants must be licensed attorneys with significant legal or judicial experience, a qualification DOJ officials say reflects the administration’s stated commitment to due process even as enforcement intensifies.
The courtroom push comes as immigration courts face historic backlogs that officials increasingly acknowledge are undermining enforcement efforts.
Data compiled by Syracuse University’s TRAC Immigration project shows that more than one million immigration cases remain pending nationwide, many unresolved for years.
Government Accountability Office reports have repeatedly cited judge shortages as a primary contributor to these delays, warning that enforcement actions alone cannot resolve the backlog.
Conservative policymakers have argued that deportation orders lose practical meaning when court delays allow illegal aliens to remain in the country indefinitely.
Congressional Research Service analyses have similarly noted that enforcement surges without corresponding judicial expansion often worsen processing delays, turning immigration courts into a bottleneck rather than a mechanism for accountability.
The judge recruitment effort follows a broader expansion of DHS enforcement operations fueled by a major funding increase.
DHS received a reported $75 billion boost and has since launched aggressive hiring initiatives across multiple agencies.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the department received more than 175,000 applications for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer positions, with over 1,200 new agents already deployed as part of the “Defend the Homeland” initiative.
DHS later reported that ICE applications have surpassed 220,000, with the agency on track to hire 10,000 new officers by the end of 2025.
Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Secret Service and the Coast Guard have also reported record applicant surges, according to departmental announcements.
As enforcement staffing expands, administration officials have increasingly acknowledged that immigration courts must keep pace.
DOJ oversight findings and GAO reports have repeatedly identified immigration judges as a critical pressure point, warning that enforcement without judicial capacity risks weakening removals and eroding public confidence in the system.
Public polling suggests support for the administration’s approach.
Surveys from Gallup and the Pew Research Center consistently show that a majority of Americans favor faster removals for illegal aliens who do not qualify for legal relief, while expressing frustration with prolonged court delays and perceived abuse of asylum claims.
Administration officials maintain that adding deportation judges is not about sidestepping due process, but restoring it.
By expanding court capacity, they argue, legitimate claims can be resolved more efficiently while meritless cases are denied without years-long delays.
With enforcement now expanding both on the ground and in the courtroom, the administration is positioning the deportation judge recruitment drive as a pivotal step in reshaping immigration policy—one aimed at ensuring that immigration law is enforced not only at the border but also through a judicial system capable of keeping pace.
