U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has denied that one of the former Cleveland immigration judges was fired because of discrimination.
Judge Tania Nemer, a federal immigration judge in Cleveland, who wants to get her job back, filed a lawsuit against Bondi, claiming that she was fired because she is a woman, has a Lebanese heritage and votes for Democrats, Fox News reported.
During one of the White House Cabinet meetings, Bondi denied the allegations, pointing out that she “was a woman as well.”
Nemer, who was fired this February, was appointed by former President Joe Biden in 2023.
The recent comments by Bondi came after multiple news sources reported that the Trump administration began firing immigration judges who usually tend to approve asylum applications all over the country.
Among the states that lost some of their judges were California, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah and Virginia, according to the Associated Press.
The American Immigration Lawyer Association published a report on October 16, in which it claimed that way over 100 immigration judges were fired or pushed out since Trump stepped into the Oval Office on January 20.
Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute and director of the office at New York University’s law school, told Fox News that the current administration’s firing of judges is “very troubling.”
Olivia Cassin, a former New York immigration judge who was pushed out of her job this November, also opposed the Trump administration’s current approach, according to Politico.
“It’s about destroying a system where cases are carefully considered by people with knowledge of the subject matter,” she said. “They’re firing everyone.”
An anonymous Department of Justice spokesperson told Politico that Trump’s team is doing so to address problems caused by Biden.
“After four years of the Biden Administration forcing Immigration Courts to implement a de facto amnesty for hundreds of thousands of aliens, this Department of Justice is restoring integrity to our immigration system and encourages talented legal professionals to join in our mission to protect national security and public safety,” the spokesperson said.
The Department of Homeland Security posted on X on Dec. 5 that the agency is ready to hire new deportation judges who would “ensure that only aliens with legally meritorious claims are allowed to remain.”
RESTORE INTEGRITY TO AMERICA'S IMMIGRATION COURTS.@TheJusticeDept is seeking legal professionals to serve as Deportation Judges to ensure that only aliens with legally meritorious claims are allowed to remain.
Remote and part-time positions available. https://t.co/9Z1LOHSlnU pic.twitter.com/mg3SgNf4Ho
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) December 5, 2025
Judge Jennifer Peyton, a Chicago immigration judge who was fired in July, told Politico that she never thought it would be possible to do more damage to the immigration courts, adding that the Trump administration was somehow able to do so.
