U.S. Department
of Justice
Blog Post
New Immigration Judges Sworn In
Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary G. Grindler recently invested 23 new immigration judges during a ceremony held at the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s (EOIR) headquarters, marking a roughly 10 percent increase in the judges corps in just one day.
Immigration judges conduct formal court proceedings to determine whether an individual from a foreign country should be allowed to remain in the United States.
Chief Immigration Judge, Brian M. O’Leary welcomed the new arrivals:
"We have made great progress since we began our robust immigration judge hiring initiative earlier this year. These new immigration judges bring the judge corps of our 59 immigration courts to 262, and we expect to further enhance the corps by additional immigration judges before the end of the calendar year."
The new judges will preside over immigration courts located through the country.
Before being selected for the job, applicants are thoroughly reviewed. First, EOIR human resources department refer eligible applicants to the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge. Then, four panels of assistant chief immigration judges screen the applications according to the following criteria:
- ability to demonstrate the appropriate temperament to serve as a judge;
- knowledge of immigration laws and procedures or of a comparable area of law;
- substantial litigation experience, preferably in a high-volume context; experience handling complex legal issues;
- experience conducting administrative hearings;
- and knowledge of judicial practices and procedures.
Updated April 7, 2017
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