Trump administration fires 8 immigration judges in New York: Report

WASHINGTON

The Trump administration fired eight immigration judges in New York City on Monday, the New York Times reported.

Citing two people with knowledge of the matter, the report said the dismissals came after a previous wave of staff reductions in New York’s immigration courts and reflect a wider shakeup nationwide, unfolding as President Donald Trump moves to speed up deportation proceedings.

All the judges were dismissed from the immigration court’s offices at 26 Federal Plaza, a building that houses the New York City headquarters of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, according to the report.

Among those dismissed was Amiena A. Khan, the assistant chief immigration judge at 26 Federal Plaza, who oversees a team of judges at the courthouse.

Prior to Monday, roughly 90 immigration judges had been dismissed nationwide this year, including six in New York City, out of a total of about 600 judges across the country, federal officials said.

“The court has been basically eviscerated,” said Olivia Cassin, who was fired from her job as an immigration judge at another New York City courthouse in November, according to the report. Cassin said that she had the job for more than a decade.

“It feels like a Monday afternoon massacre," she was quoted as saying.

Monday’s dismissals came just two days after nearly 200 protesters rallied in Lower Manhattan to disrupt a potential ICE raid, provoking frustration among federal authorities.

The Trump administration has pledged to escalate deportation operations in New York and has repeatedly denounced the city’s so-called sanctuary policies, which restrict local police from collaborating with federal immigration authorities in most cases.