"On Friday, Judges Amber George, Jeremiah Johnson, Louis Gordon, Shuting Chen and Patrick Savage were fired from San Francisco's immigration court, which at the start of the year had more than 20 judges, according to Milli Atkinson, the director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program with the Bar Association of San Francisco."
"Former immigration judge Dana Leigh Marks told KQED at the time that the firings also appear to be targeting those who have previously worked in immigrant advocacy rights, private practice or public interest law, while others who rose through the ranks as prosecutors for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Division of the Department of Homeland Security have kept their appointments."
"This has just been so extreme that it really is a radical departure from past experiences in terms of people being fired despite good performance."
Five federal immigration judges in San Francisco were fired — Amber George, Jeremiah Johnson, Louis Gordon, Shuting Chen and Patrick Savage — reducing the court's bench from more than 20 to nine. Attorneys noted case outcome discrepancies across jurisdictions that may reflect differences in representation and procedural standards. Observers said the firings appear to target judges with immigrant advocacy, private practice, or public interest backgrounds while judges with ICE-prosecutorial backgrounds remain. Legal experts warned that the removals could pave the way for a more partisan immigration court system and create pressure for sitting judges to align decisions with the Department of Justice.
Read at Kqed
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