"The Trump administration has started recruiting hundreds of military lawyers to sit as immigration judges, presiding over what are often life-and-death federal decisions for immigrants in the US, as experts warn the White House strategy is high-risk and arguably unlawful. The judgeships are temporary, but renewable, and the government's goal is to fill an acute need for more immigration judges amid Donald Trump's mass deportation mission"
"The military's mission is to kill people and break things and Jags are trained to support that mission within the boundaries of military law. That's not the same as immigration law. So why would we be using those attorneys, of all the lawyers out there, to decide the fate of families seeking refuge? said Shawn VanDiver, a navy veteran and immigration advocate. It's just another way the Trump administration is trying to sow fear and keep people from coming here."
Hundreds of military lawyers from the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) corps are being recruited to serve as temporary, renewable immigration judges to address a 3.75 million-case backlog. The initiative aims to double the ranks of immigration judges amid an aggressive deportation campaign while experienced judges perceived as hostile to the agenda are being removed. Experts warn JAG officers lack specialized immigration law training beyond brief JAG school exposure and are trained for military missions that differ fundamentally from civilian immigration adjudication. Legal scholars contend deploying active-duty personnel for civilian enforcement likely violates the Posse Comitatus Act and executive regulations, creating high legal and humanitarian risks.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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