Newly hired immigration judges are deciding New York City removal cases from remote locations while immigrants and lawyers appear in person at 26 Federal Plaza. The arrangement is reshaping hearings inside the Manhattan courthouse.
Observers watched 23 judges’ proceedings there over three days in September 2026. Ten judges, nearly all recent hires, joined by video rather than sitting at the courtroom dais.
Some cases have shifted floors. Hearings once held in the immigration court on the 12th floor have also taken place in Immigration and Customs Enforcement-controlled space on the third floor.
Attorneys and immigrants say the format can make basic exchanges harder. The judge may be far away, while the people whose cases are being decided sit in the courtroom.
The Justice Department recruited attorneys in a campaign urging them to become “deportation judges.” Their remote work has raised concerns about hearing testimony, asking follow-up questions and examining documents presented in person.
Holly D’Andrea, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said judges working hundreds of miles away have fewer chances to consult colleagues and learn on the job. She described a loss of day-to-day contact.
One hearing before Judge Samuels ended with the judge’s assistant telling participants they could leave without seeing the judge. Nearly 90% of respondents appearing before Samuels were in person, even as the judge appeared remotely.
Devon Thurman, a political scientist at Georgia Tech and researcher with the Deportation Data Project, analyzed Executive Office for Immigration Review data. He found that people appearing by video are “significantly likelier” to receive deportation orders than those who appear in person.
Hearings have moved into government buildings with little public access
Since September 2026, immigration hearings have also been held in government-controlled spaces outside familiar courthouses. They include FEMA headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the third-floor location in Manhattan.
Officials are considering additional sites in Chicago, Miami, Denver, San Antonio and Los Angeles. Attorneys and members of the public were denied entry at the Manhattan and Washington locations, which reportedly lacked signs identifying them as immigration courts.
Rep. Greg Stanton, an Arizona Democrat, said officers refused him entry to the FEMA courtroom on September 23, 2026. He was eventually allowed inside, but his staff remained outside.
The access barriers have affected people trying to attend hearings and lawyers seeking to represent clients. Attorney White described a couple who drove from Baltimore to Washington for a hearing: the immigrant appeared in Washington, while the judge joined by video from Baltimore. White could not enter to represent the couple.
In Manhattan, the American Immigration Lawyers Association said at least nine people were ordered removed during one session after failing to appear. The group raised concern that they may not have received adequate notice of the location change.
Immigration hearings are generally open to the public. The reported restrictions at these sites have left attorneys and observers unable to enter some proceedings.
The administration says the new locations are meant to keep cases moving
EOIR spokesperson Kathryn Mattingly said judges retain independent authority over individual cases, whether they hear them in person or online.
“All immigration judges, whether they conduct hearings in person or internet-based, are independent adjudicators and decide all matters before them on a case-by-case basis, according to U.S. immigration law, regulations, and precedent decisions.”
An EOIR spokesperson described the location changes as “making scheduling adjustments,” including “opening new hearing locations as needed” to handle cases “in a timely and lawful manner.”
A hiring push coincides with a three-million-case backlog
Manhattan’s immigration court received at least 28 temporary and permanent judges during the past year, more than any other court, according to an analysis of court data. The national backlog stands at roughly 3 million cases, and more than 700 judges serve in the Justice Department’s immigration courts.
A September 2025 policy memo set targets for deciding cases. Judges were directed to complete most removal cases involving nondetained migrants within one year of the notice to appear, and detained cases within 60 days.
Decision data show differences between newer and earlier appointees. Permanent judges appointed after President Donald Trump returned to office denied 49% of asylum applications decided between October 2025 and August 2026, compared with 41% for judges appointed earlier who remained on the bench.
Their removal-order rate reached 79% through late July, compared with approximately 74% for judges appointed before January 2025. Across immigration courts, judges issued removal orders in 82% of cases in August 2026.
Kimberly Fasking, an immigration lawyer, said: “Speed seems to be the goal in managing these dockets rather than compassion or fairness.” The data also show low asylum-approval rates among newer judges.
New judges approved approximately 2% of asylum applications. The overall approval rate had fallen to 3%, down from 17% during the first month of Trump’s second term. Nearly half of the new recruits reportedly have military backgrounds and limited prior experience in immigration law.
