DOJ permits attorneys without immigration case experience to be temporary judges amid major backlog

Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, R-Fla., joins'America's Newsroom' to discuss Florida's crackdown on illegal immigrant truck drivers after the death of three Americans. In an apparent effort to address the millions of backlogged immigration cases, the Justice Department made a rule change to allow attorneys without immigration law experience to act as temporary immigration judges. The DOJ's Office of Immigration Review published the rule in the federal register Thursday, which removes the requirement that temporary immigration judges have substantive prior experience in immigration law. Jurists who are approved by Attorney General Pam Bondi may serve as immigration judges, which represents a tide change after more than 100 judges were fired or bought out by the Trump administration earlier in 2025. The DOJ hopes that by expanding the net as to who may hear immigration-related cases, the more than three million case backlog may finally be assuaged.