Head of the American Immigration Lawyers Association says plan similar to having \u2018a cardiologist do a hip replacement\u2019.<\/p>\n
Published On 3 Sep 20253 Sep 2025<\/p>\n
Hundreds of military and civilian lawyers working for the United States Department of Defense (DOD) will serve as immigration judges temporarily, officials have said, in the latest move by President Donald Trump\u2019s administration to involve the military<\/a> in US domestic affairs.<\/p>\n \u201cThese DOD attorneys will augment existing resources to help further combat a backlog of cases by presiding over immigration hearings,\u201d Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Military lawyers are not trained to serve as immigration judges, and one US official told the Reuters news agency that even with additional training, it would be difficult for military lawyers to act as judges.<\/p>\n US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved sending up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department as part of the plan, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press news agency.<\/p>\n The military will begin sending groups of 150 lawyers \u201cas soon as practicable\u201d, according to the memo, with the lawyers expected to serve as immigration judges for 179 days initially, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n The head of the American Immigration Lawyers Association described the plan as similar to having \u201ca cardiologist do a hip replacement\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cExpecting fair decisions from judges unfamiliar with the law is absurd. This reckless move guts due process and further undermines the integrity of our immigration court system,\u201d said Ben Johnson, the organisation \u2018s executive director.<\/p>\n In his 2024 book The War on Warriors, Defense Secretary Hegseth was highly critical of military lawyers, saying that most \u201cspend more time prosecuting our troops than putting away bad guys\u201d.<\/p>\n