Immigration

Ex-judge says she was pressed over bond rulings as immigration bench shrinks

Washington, D.C. • October 25, 2026 • By Press Pass USA

Editorial illustration: a federal immigration courthouse on a cloudy morning

Illustration: Press Pass USA

A former immigration judge says officials pressured her over bond decisions for detained immigrants before she was dismissed, according to a Washington Post investigation reported this week — part of a broader reshaping of the immigration courts that has removed about 100 of roughly 700 judges during the first year of President Donald Trump's second term.

The Post's investigation centers on former judge Karen Donoso Stevens, who served at the Annandale, Virginia, immigration court. According to the investigation, she said she faced pressure over decisions involving bond for detained immigrants before she was removed from certain cases and later dismissed. She is challenging her dismissal.

Immigration judges are not part of the judicial branch. They work inside the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review, under the attorney general, and can be removed by the administration — though the law requires them to exercise independent judgment in individual cases.

The Justice Department has maintained that immigration judges retain decision-making independence, and a department memo cited in the reporting says court leadership may not direct the outcome of an individual case. The tension between that formal position and the former judge's account is the central question raised by the investigation.

A separate New York Times investigation found that more than 100 immigration judges have been dismissed out of about 750 in place when Trump returned to power, and that the administration has appointed 143 permanent and temporary replacements, including many former Homeland Security prosecutors and military lawyers. The Times also found that asylum claims have been approved in fewer than 10% of cases this year, the lowest rate for which data is available.

The courts entered the administration with a backlog of more than 4 million unresolved cases, a figure that has framed the administration's push for faster adjudication and expanded deportations.

Sources: The Washington Post investigation, reported Oct 24–25, 2026; The New York Times investigation into the immigration courts (Oct 2026).