Trump administration taps Army Reserve and National Guard for temporary immigration judges
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Trump administration is tapping National Guard and Army Reserve lawyers to be temporary immigration judges after firing dozens of existing judges, the latest step in a broader plan that experts warn could harm immigration courts and the military justice system.
Training for the first group of Army lawyers begins Monday and training for the second group is expected to start in the spring, several former and current military reserve lawyers said they were told. Roughly 100 Army Reserve lawyers are expected to participate, with 50 beginning a nearly six-month assignment immediately after their training, according to a Sept. 3 email sent to an Army Reserve attorney and reviewed by The Associated Press.
The administration wants to bring in as many as 600 military-trained attorneys to help make decisions about which immigrants can stay in the country. Advocates are alarmed by the move to use military lawyers to bolster staffing in the backlogged immigration courts as President Donald Trump's administration ramps up immigration arrests.
Those courts have yearslong waits for hearings, and the number of pending cases has more than doubled in the past four years to 3.4 million.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-administration-taps-army-national-040442039.html
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