Across New York City’s three immigration courthouses, there are 15 people who had been judges at the start of the Trump administration who appear to no longer have their jobs, according to analysis by NY1.
Over months of conversations with NY1, former immigration judges recommended comparing how many judges had active Webex video channels now versus the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency in January.
What You Need To Know
NY1 analysis shows a steep drop in immigration judges with active Webex channels since the beginning of the second Trump administration
Former judges told NY1 that no longer having a Webex link means the judge is on leave, took a buyout, retired or got fired
The Trump administration announced a plan to hire hundreds of temporary judges across the country
A former immigration judge in New York City, fired by the Trump administration, raised concerns about how prepared the temporary judges will be
They told NY1 the missing links had one of four potential outcomes: the judge could have taken a leave, taken a buyout, retired or been fired.
When NY1, using examined the government web pages from January 19, 2025 — the day before Donald Trump’s inauguration — compared to October 16, 2025, there were 15 judges whose names had disappeared over the course of the year.
One of those judges was Carmen Maria Rey Caldas, who had been a judge at 26 Federal Plaza until late this summer.
“It was an email,” she said from her Brooklyn apartment, describing how she found out her fate. “It was sent at 4:07 p.m.”
She said there was no reason given for her termination.
For the first time since 2015, according to data provided to NY1 by the U.S. Department of Justice, the number of immigration judges has dropped.
In that year, there were 254 immigration judges across the country per Department of Justice data, when the immigration case backlog was 456,216, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
However, in the decade since then, the backlog of cases has exploded to more than 3.4 million, as the number of judges reached a peak of 735.
In 2023, there was a federal report provided to Congress about the backlog of immigration cases and how hiring more immigration judges could impact that statistic.
At that point, the backlog of immigration cases nationwide was under 2 million. The number of immigration judges sat at 649, according to the report filed by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan research agency that provides reports to Congress.
If 1,000 more judges had been hired at the time, that would have led to no backlog in about five years, according to the analysis done at the time. If no judges were hired, it would lead to a backlog of more than 3.1 million by 2033.
It took less than two years, rather than the predicted 10 years, to blow past that number nationally, however.
The backlog of cases means some respondents in immigration courts have hearings set for the next decade, according to immigration lawyers NY1 has interviewed in recent years.
On Jan. 19, there were 721 immigration judges across the country. Before a recent hiring announcement by the Department of Justice, at last count, it was at 575.
The remaining judges can face a culture of fear, according to Caldas.
“That is no way to run a court,” she said to NY1.
In the latest budget bill, Congress authorized the DOJ to have a total of as many as 800 immigration judges, and late this summer, the Trump administration announced a plan to hire up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary judges.
On Friday, the administration announced a new class of 36 immigration judges, about 70% of them temporary.
One permanent and one temporary hire will hear cases in New York City courtrooms starting this month.
This new class of judges will bring the total to more than 600 again, for the first time in a few months, according to the NY1 review of active Webex video channels.
Since the beginning of the administration, there has been a 15% drop in judges across the country, and in New York City, nearly mirroring the national average, has seen a 16% decrease, according to NY1’s analysis.
Those percentage drops include last week’s hiring announcement.
If the Trump administration fills all the temporary judicial positions, on top of the permanent ones currently on staff, it would represent the largest total number of judges nationwide.
The 600 potential temporary ones, however, will be reevaluated every six months, before a decision is made on whether to renew their position or not, according to the Department of Justice memo from this summer.
“I think they’re being set up to fail,” Caldas said in her interview about the temporary judges, which was done weeks before the new hires were announced.
She said immigration law can be complex, and judges are often ruling on cases at the moment, not having time to research decisions for weeks on cases where the stakes can be incredibly high.
“A wrong move can result in someone’s death. If you deport someone to a country where their life is in danger, that person could very well die,” she said.
A Department of Defense spokesperson told NY1 the agency “is identifying qualified Judge Advocates and civilian attorneys for details to serve as Temporary Immigration Judges.”
NY1 followed up by asking what qualities make a Department of Defense employee qualified versus unqualified.
“We don’t have anything additional to provide on this,” she said.
In a federal document outlining the new policy, the Department of Justice indicated it will look for “the most qualified individuals overall with primary weight given to an applicant’s education and employment history,” and that factors such as judicial, trial or immigration experience will matter.
The DOJ document said the temporary judges will receive the same “comprehensive, continuing training and support” as permanent judges.
But Caldas said she’s not sure if they will have the support team she had, including two clerks who helped with writing decisions and responding to motions.
When NY1 asked the Department of Justice spokeswoman about the plan to support temporary judges, she sent a document that she said included that information.
However, NY1’s review of the file led to nothing specific about staffing for the temporary judges.
More simply, Caldas has a question, at least at her former workplace, 26 Federal Plaza, if the government hires more judges than those who have left in recent months.
“Has anyone even looked at where these people are going to sit? There aren’t enough courtrooms,” she said. “We literally don’t have court space.”