Former immigration judges, especially in Chicago, are sounding the alarm after a new wave of unexplained terminations under President Trump’s second term.
Two of them, Judge Carla Espinoza and Judge Jennifer Peyton, stood alongside Senator Dick Durbin at a press conference this week, delivering a message that was part outrage, part warning: immigration courts are being gutted, and due process is under assault.
Judge Espinoza says she got her pink slip via email while she was presiding over a case. Let that sink in. She was actively working in the courtroom when the notice came through — no hearing, no warning, no performance review. Just a digital “don’t come back.” And she’s not alone.
At least two more judges in the same district, all women, received similar emails from the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which is part of the Department of Justice. Espinoza and others suspect a pattern: women and minority judges are being disproportionately targeted.
🚨 HELL YES! The Trump administration FIRED multiple WOKE immigration judges in Chicago after they assisted Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin in a political hit piece
Activist judges are being shown the DOOR! 🔥
One Judge, Carla Espinoza, says she believes SEXlSM and RACISM could have… pic.twitter.com/xdfdNk3rSs
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 6, 2025
This all comes as President Trump continues to push hard on his campaign promise — again — to aggressively crack down on illegal immigration. Court backlogs are enormous, with over 3.8 million cases pending nationwide (down slightly from 4.1 million earlier this year). Trump supporters are touting the reduction as a win, but critics say the drop is artificially manufactured — achieved by dismissing cases and moving toward ultra-fast-track deportations that sometimes happen within 72 hours of arrest.
And it’s not just the bench that’s taking a hit. Judges are resigning, transferring, or just walking away. According to Judge Peyton, more than 100 immigration judges have been pushed out or left since January. That’s roughly 1 out of every 7 judges nationwide. Chicago’s court, which had 20 judges in January, is now down to just 13 — tasked with managing over 221,000 cases. That’s not a docket. That’s a disaster.
And here’s where things get especially tense. Judge Peyton says her firing came just weeks after meeting with Senator Durbin — the same Durbin now calling her termination “political retaliation.” He’s demanding congressional oversight, calling this a “clear abuse of power.”
Meanwhile, the EOIR is staying silent, refusing to comment, and the Department of Homeland Security is defending aggressive tactics, like making arrests in courtrooms, as “common sense.” A new policy memo quietly circulated a week after Trump’s inauguration claims the EOIR’s “core values” were “undermined” over the past four years and now need to be “re-established.” Translation: new rules, new leadership, and apparently, fewer judges.
