The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announces the investiture of 46 immigration judges, including two assistant chief immigration judges, marking for the second month in a row the largest class in the agency’s history.
“At this point in history your work is vitally important. The case backlog has reached more than 760,000. Great effort is surely needed,” said Attorney General Jeff Sessions at today’s investiture. “This situation is unacceptable. It cannot continue. Our nation’s chief executive supports you and all who strive to make our immigration system work.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed these new judges after a thorough application process and welcomed them during a ceremony held Sept. 28, 2018. Chief Immigration Judge MaryBeth Keller presided over the investiture held at the Department of Justice’s Great Hall in Washington, D.C.
“EOIR continues to make great progress in hiring the immigration judges needed to reduce a backlog of more than 760,000 pending immigration court cases,” said James McHenry, Director of EOIR. “Alongside our efforts to improve immigration judge productivity and modernize our information technology systems, growing our immigration judge corps remains a top agency priority.”
In 2017, Attorney General Sessions announced a “streamlined hiring plan” promoting the use of clear deadlines and efficient hiring processes, resulting in a reduction of 74 percent in the time it takes to onboard immigration judges since then. Since the end of January 2017, 128 immigration judges have been sworn in. EOIR anticipates two additional hiring classes this fall which will make for over 100 immigration judges hired during 2018.
“EOIR now has 395 immigration judges, an increase of 30 percent since January 2017,” said McHenry. “While we are pleased to welcome this historic class of judges, we are not done and expect additional hiring before the end of this year.”
The names of each new judge along with their assigned courts and biographical information is found in a notice issued by EOIR here.
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