This document sets forth the steps that will be taken in immigration judge (IJ) and Appellate IJ (AIJ) hiring. The goals of our hiring process are twofold: to create greater efficiency and to provide greater transparency without compromising the thoroughness of candidate evaluation.* This memorandum articulates specific criteria that will be applied throughout the selection process and the steps to identify candidates who will perform at the level of competence, impartiality, and professionalism expected of an IJ and AIJ.

STEP ONE: ADVERTISEMENT AND APPLICATION

To begin the process, EOIR will post a vacancy announcement seeking applications for IJ or AIJ positions. The vacancy announcement will run for 14 days, unless a longer or shorter period is specified by the EOIR Director or the EOIR Director’s designee or is required by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Only applicants who apply to a posted vacancy announcement will be considered for a position. Consistent with Department and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) policy and guidance, referral lists will be kept open for a reasonable period of time after selections are made, thus allowing worthy candidates to be selected for emergent vacancies.

STEP TWO: SELECTION PROCESS FOR FIRST-ROUND INTERVIEWS

Upon receipt of the qualified applicant list and materials from OPM, panels of three reviewers, consisting of supervisory IJs, AIJs, administrative law judges, and/or senior attorneys in the agency will evaluate applications and either “recommend” or “not recommend” each candidate for a first-round interview, recording their votes on a reviewer worksheet.** A majority of the reviewers on a given panel must vote to recommend the candidate for a first-round interview. The target completion for this step is within two weeks.

Applications will be evaluated based upon the Quality Ranking Factors specified in the vacancy announcement. Application screeners (and all interviewers, first and second round) will utilize the Reviewer Worksheet and Guidance to make a recommendation whether the candidate should proceed to the next stage of the process. See Guidance.

Should EOIR personnel appear on the list of applicants from OPM, those who satisfy additional criteria will be deemed “recommended” for a first interview by default. Specifically, for the IJ position, EOIR attorneys who, in addition to meeting the application requirements, have at least three years of experience and satisfactory performance as an attorney within the agency will be deemed recommended for an interview by default. For the AIJ position, sitting IJs who, in addition to meeting the application requirements, have at least three years of experience and satisfactory performance on the immigration bench will be deemed recommended for an interview by default.

STEP THREE: FIRST-ROUND INTERVIEWS

Once the paper review process begins, EOIR will contact applicants on a rolling basis to schedule a first-round interview and to request a writing sample and references, as appropriate. (Applicants who have been through a first-round interview within the preceding 12 months will not be interviewed again but will instead be considered based on their updated application and the interview summary from the prior interview.)

Two-person panels of EOIR supervisory IJs*** will conduct first-round interviews for IJ positions. Two-person panels of AIJs**** will conduct first-round interviews for AIJ positions. As needed, the EOIR Director may appoint other agency adjudicators or senior attorneys to participate on these interview panels.

Within two days of the first-round interview, each interviewer will memorialize his or her notes in a summary of the interview. That summary will also indicate whether the candidate is “highly recommended,” “recommended,” or “not recommended” for a second-round interview. The criteria for each level of recommendation are defined and described in the Application Review Worksheet and guidance document. The summary will be included in the candidate’s application record, and the recommendation recorded in a tracking database for use in the next step of the process.

The first-round interviews will be completed within three weeks of the scheduled date of the first interview. To meet this timeframe, EOIR will form multiple interview panels that will run concurrently. The EOIR Director will be notified as soon as a candidate’s application and interview notes are ready for review following the first-round interview.

STEP FOUR: SELECTION PROCESS FOR SECOND-ROUND INTERVIEWS

The EOIR Director (or designee) will evaluate the recommendations of the first-round interview panel. Based on a review of the applications and interview summaries, the EOIR Director will select candidates for a second-round interview. The EOIR Director will consider candidates on a rolling basis.

Where the first-round interview panel makes a unanimous recommendation as to whether an applicant should be offered a second-round interview, the EOIR Director will generally defer to the panel’s recommendation – i.e., a candidate with two “highly recommend” or “recommend” votes will be given a second interview, and a candidate with two “not recommended” votes will not. Should the EOIR Director deem it necessary to deviate from a panel’s recommendation, the EOIR Director will record the basis for doing so in writing.

Where the first-round interview panel is not unanimous, the EOIR Director will decide whether or not the candidate will be given a second interview and will record the basis for that decision in writing.

During this step in the process, the EOIR Director will direct EOIR staff to initiate reference checks, prior employment vouchering, and other vetting as appropriate for each second-round interview candidate.

STEP FIVE: SECOND-ROUND INTERVIEWS

Each second-round interview will be conducted by a three-member panel, comprised of (1) a designee from another component of the Department of Justice and (2) two of any of the following EOIR personnel: (a) the EOIR Director (or other senior EOIR official designated by the EOIR Director), (b) the EOIR Deputy Director, (c) a supervisory immigration judge, and (d) an adjudicator from another EOIR component. Members of the second-round panel will discuss the candidate, reach a consensus decision, and memorialize that decision in a written summary of the interview within two days of the interview. That summary will also indicate whether the candidate is “highly recommended,” “recommended,” or “not recommended” for further consideration. The summary will be included in the candidate’s application record, and the recommendation recorded in a tracking database for use in the next step of the process.

STEP SIX: SELECTION PROCESS FOR TENTATIVE OFFERS

The EOIR Director (or designee) will review all candidates with a second-round panel rating of “highly recommended” or “recommended.” The EOIR Director will select which candidates are appropriate to recommend to the Attorney General for a tentative offer of employment. To determine which candidates to recommend for tentative offers of employment, the EOIR Director will review the application package, first- and second-round interview notes, and any background check information. The EOIR Director will balance the skills and abilities of the candidates against the needs of the office, selecting those candidates that both possess a strong combination of these criteria above and have demonstrated that they will perform at the level of competence, impartiality, and professionalism expected of an IJ.

The EOIR Director will provide a memo to ODAG with candidates recommended for a tentative offer of employment. The recommendations will not be location specific nor limited to the precise number of vacancies to be filled. Rather, all candidates whom the EOIR Director recommends for offers of tentative employment will be submitted to ODAG for consideration and approval. Should more candidates be approved by ODAG than vacancies exist at the time of the selection, the EOIR Director will choose which candidates receive initial tentative offers.

STEP SEVEN: TENTATIVE OFFERS

Pursuant to the delegation from the Attorney General, the EOIR Director will determine which candidates to select for specific locations and extend to them a conditional offer. That offer will be conditioned upon the candidate’s successful completion of a preliminary or full background check and his or her final selection and appointment by the Attorney General.

After tentative selections have been made, the referral list of eligible candidates will remain ‘open.’ Should any candidates be unable to accept an offer, or be withdrawn from the process for any reason, the EOIR Director may proceed to another ODAG-approved candidate. Similarly, should there be emergent vacancies due to retirement or separation while the list of eligible candidates remains open, the EOIR Director may proceed with any of the other ODAG-approved candidates.

STEP EIGHT: CLEARANCE PROCESS

EOIR will conduct a preliminary background check in conjunction with checks run by the Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management (OARM). OARM will also review each candidate for suitability, and the Office of Legal Counsel will review the appointment order drafted by EOIR for legal sufficiency. The candidate’s application package will thereafter be routed to the Deputy Attorney General for consideration, who will forward endorsed candidates to the Attorney General for consideration.

The Attorney General retains discretion over the selection and appointment of candidates. While the full background check is pending, the Attorney General may choose to give a 24-month appointment to the candidate, regardless of whether the candidate is a current Federal employee or from outside the Federal government. If the Attorney General appoints the candidate to a 24-month term and if the candidate completes a full background investigation prior to the expiration of that term, the candidate’s application package will go before the Deputy Attorney General and then the Attorney General for a performance review and possible conversion to a non-term-limited appointment.

* Certain supervisory IJ positions (chief immigration judge, principal deputy chief immigration judge, regional deputy chief immigration judges) and supervisory AIJ positions (chief appellate immigration judge and deputy chief appellate immigration judges) are Senior Executive Service (SES) positions, and those positions are subject to additional selection requirements and procedures outside those in this memorandum.

** All EOIR staff involved in the process of hiring IJs will be trained in this process. This training will include an explanation of the steps in this policy and specific training on appropriate interview and evaluation practices. The interview and evaluation training will focus on both interview technique/appropriate questions and expectations under governing Equal Employment Opportunity, Merit Systems Protections, and Prohibited Personal Practices laws, policies, and practices.

*** Appropriate supervisory IJs may include assistant chief immigration judges, regional deputy chief immigration judges, the principal deputy chief immigration judge, and the chief immigration judge.

**** Appropriate AIJs may include the chief appellate immigration judge and deputy chief appellate immigration judges.

Reference Documents

2019 Hiring Policy (archived)

Change Table