TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Mar 29, 2023

The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to go on a “hiring spree” for immigration judges next year, Knoxville Times reports. In its budget proposal for fiscal year 2024, which starts Oct. 1, the department is seeking $1.46 billion for the office tasked with adjudicating immigration claims. The request represents an increase of nearly 70% in funding and would enable the agency to hire 965 new judicial staff, including 150 new immigration judges. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in written testimony before a Senate appropriations subcommittee that the effort is designed to address the backlog of cases. There are currently about 600 immigration judges in the country (more than double from just a few years ago) handling more than two million cases.