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AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
We turn now to immigration and the immigration courts. Since President Trump took office in January, nearly a hundred immigration judges, who are technically Department of Justice employees, have been fired, reassigned or pushed out. That’s out of 700 judges nationwide. The system is notoriously backlogged by years, with more than 3 million cases pending. According to the National Association of Immigration Judges, most of the fired judges were in liberal areas like New York, San Francisco and Boston.
Military attorneys are being reassigned as temporary immigration judges, and a new recruitment push is underway. New hires will not be required to have any experience in immigration law. The social media recruitment campaign calls for, quote, “deportation judges,” who will, quote, “make decisions with generational consequences,” unquote.
The first immigration judge fired was Tania Nemer. She was fired without explanation in February. She was appointed to the bench in Ohio in 2023. Tania Nemer is a Lebanese American with dual citizenship, born to immigrant parents. She had previously run for office as a Democrat. After her firing, she filed a complaint with the EEOC — that’s the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission — alleging discrimination. But instead of conducting an investigation as required, the EEO dismissed the complaint and made the unusual and extraordinary assertion that anti-discrimination laws do not apply to federal employees. Nemer has now filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in D.C. District Court. We’re joined now by Tania Nemer in Ohio and her attorney, James Eisenmann, in Washington, D.C.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! It might surprise many, Tania Nemer, to hear that the Trump administration is firing immigration judges, given how many immigrants have to go before judges. Can you talk about what happened to you?
TANIA NEMER: Yes. I was actually in a courtroom full of immigrants and DHS counsel and staff, and I was on the bench. On the record, I was ripped off the bench, told that I was terminated, effective immediately, and then I was escorted out of the building.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean, you were torn off the bench?
TANIA NEMER: I was literally on the record, speaking to the immigrants and to the attorneys, explaining the rights and responsibilities, and I was pulled away in the middle of the hearing, while on the record, and told that I must be escorted out of the building, and I’m terminated, effective immediately.
AMY GOODMAN: Based on what?
TANIA NEMER: I was not given a reason. I asked. I asked the administrative judge. I also asked the chief judge of the United States, who was located in Cleveland, “Why am I being terminated?” And both indicated that they do not know why I’m being terminated.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you explain what an immigration judge does? When you were hired, when you were appointed, what were you doing?
TANIA NEMER: When I was hired, I was trained for a month in D.C. And our job is to make sure that there’s a full and fair hearing for anyone who is in our court. It’s to make sure that due process is served, you know, that everyone knows their rights and responsibilities, and they have that hearing. It’s to make sure that the laws of our United States are followed and implemented, and these hearings are full and complete. We do asylum hearings, adjustments of status. Anything that goes before immigration court, our job is to make sure due process is followed.
AMY GOODMAN: So, can you talk about the yearslong backlog of millions of cases in the immigration court system? You were on the bench for — what, in Ohio, for about a year. Talk about your caseload and the kind of cases that you had.
TANIA NEMER: So, I had about 4,000 active cases on my docket. Those cases, now that I’ve been terminated, have kind of gone into an oblivion. Nobody — people were getting notices that there’s no hearing date for those cases. And those were just the active. There’s a lot more that were set on a side docket that could have come forward. Just for example, in the hearing that I was pulled off of, I was setting their first hearing for a year out, that — you know, you usually have about three hearings, and it would take at least a year between each hearing to get to your final hearing.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to bring James Eisenmann into this conversation, the attorney for former immigration judge Tania Nemer. Can you lay out what exactly her complaint is, and why with the Equal Employment Opportunity office?
JAMES EISENMANN: Sure, and thank you for having us this morning to talk about this important issue.
So, Tania’s complaint is a discrimination complaint alleging that she was fired because of her sex and national origin, in addition to her political affiliation. What is astounding about this case, in addition to the discrimination that occurred, is the Department of Justice’s position that it can discriminate against federal employees — specifically, in this case, Tania — because the Constitution allows it to do so. An absurd notion.
AMY GOODMAN: And explain the rejection of the case and then how you went forward beyond that.
JAMES EISENMANN: Right. So, federal employees have a specific EEO complaint process they need to follow that’s different than employees in the private sector. Federal employees who want to initiate a discrimination complaint first must go to their employing agency’s EEO office and start a complaint, and then file a formal complaint of discrimination. From that point, the agency is required to conduct an investigation of the complaint within 180 calendar days of the filing of that complaint.
In this case, the Department of Justice started that investigation, obtained affidavits from Tania and from some management officials regarding the allegations in her formal discrimination complaint. Unfortunately, the Department of Justice did not finish that investigation. Instead, in September, they decided to dismiss the complaint, with the argument that Article II of the Constitution essentially preempts the Civil Rights Act. And that’s what led us to file the lawsuit in federal court.
AMY GOODMAN: And what’s your argument against that?
JAMES EISENMANN: Against that Article II preempts the Civil Rights Act?
AMY GOODMAN: Yes, that they can openly discriminate.
JAMES EISENMANN: The argument against that is that the Civil Rights Act, 1964, as amended, is a landmark civil rights legislation, and to claim that the president or the attorney general or the head of any agency can discriminate against individuals based on their race, sex, national origin, etc., is just an absolute crazy notion, that that can just run rampant, and to have no recourse.
AMY GOODMAN: You’ve been an employment attorney for years. You’ve said, in your experience, you’ve never seen anything like this, James.
JAMES EISENMANN: That’s right. I’ve been practicing employment law and representing federal employees for almost 30 years, and I have never seen a federal agency dismiss a complaint for this reason, ever.
AMY GOODMAN: Tania Nemer, the Trump administration has fired a hundred immigration judges nationwide, out of 700, even as there’s this backlog of millions of cases, but is advertising for new hires. On social media, the Department of Justice says they’re recruiting “deportation judges,” rather than immigration judges. What’s your response to this?
TANIA NEMER: What I think is important is that we have judges who follow the law. And my response is, you could title it whatever you want, but the job is to make sure you follow the law. And it’s very sad that so many judges, including myself, have been terminated unlawfully, and the money and the time that was invested in us has now gone to waste because they want to recruit more individuals. So, I hope that our government does follow the law and understands that the judges that they do need to hire must do so, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: And let me ask you about this, as the Trump administration is pushing very hard for deportations. A recent image posted on X by the Department of Homeland Security features the children’s book character Franklin the Turtle in a judge’s robe, saying, quote, ”Franklin Becomes a Deportation Judge.” Now, I believe the cartoonist who’s behind Franklin has filed an objection to Franklin being used in this way. But can you respond, Judge Nemer?
TANIA NEMER: I can only say that the job of a judge, anyone in a robe, there’s a respect of the law and our systems. And to put titles that sway in one way or another should not happen. The judge’s job is to make sure they follow the law. And whatever those laws are, they must follow them.
AMY GOODMAN: And what are you hearing amongst fellow and sister immigration judges around the country? A seventh of the judges have been fired. What are people saying on the bench, and those who’ve been fired? Are judges organizing?
TANIA NEMER: I can’t speak for all the judges, but I can tell you that when you’re ripping people off the bench — and I was the only one, off the record, escorted out of the building. But most of the judges that I know were not given a reason like me. When you’re ripped off the bench like that and not given a legal reason, and a legal process hasn’t been followed, it causes a lot of fear. It inhibits the judiciary, inhibits our judicial system and the ability for individuals to follow the law. And our law provides systems and efficiency. And when it’s not being followed, it’s a huge disruption.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Tania Nemer, I want to thank you for being with us, former immigration judge, fired in February, and attorney James Eisenmann. I believe the statement of — around Franklin was: “We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values. … Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity.”
Coming up, we look at Sudan, where evidence continues to mount of mass atrocities committed against civilians as the war rages on. We’ll go to Cairo. Stay with us.
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AMY GOODMAN: “Copper Kettle” by Stephanie Coleman and Nora Brown, performing at the Brooklyn Folk Festival.
