In a sweeping move to address the United States’ ballooning immigration court backlog, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized the deployment of up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges, according to an August 27, 2025 memo reviewed by the Associated Press and reported by several outlets, including AP, Newsweek, and The Guardian. The Pentagon’s decision, made at the request of the Department of Justice (DOJ), is set to double the current number of immigration judges nationwide and marks a dramatic intervention at a time of mounting legal and political tension over immigration policy.
According to the memo, the military will begin sending groups of 150 attorneys—both military and civilian—to the DOJ “as soon as practicable,” with the first round of personnel identified by the week of September 2, 2025. The deployment will initially last no more than 179 days, though the assignments can be renewed if necessary. The memo, as cited by AP, stresses that the additional attorneys are contingent on availability and that mobilizing reserve officers may be required to meet the commitment.
This extraordinary measure comes as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, increasing arrests and deportations across the country. The immigration court system, overseen by the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), is now contending with a backlog that has reached crisis proportions. As of June 2025, the number of pending cases stood at a staggering 3.7 million, according to Newsweek. That’s up from roughly 3.5 million just months prior, illustrating the rapid escalation of the crisis.
Compounding the problem, the ranks of immigration judges have thinned dramatically in the past year. More than 100 judges have either been fired or have left voluntarily after being offered deferred resignations by the Trump administration, as reported by their union, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE). In July 2025 alone, at least 17 immigration judges were dismissed “without cause,” the union said, leaving the system with about 600 active judges—down from over 700 during the final months of the Biden administration.
The Pentagon’s move, therefore, would double the number of judges presiding over immigration cases. The hope, according to a White House official quoted by AP and The Guardian, is that the effort will help resolve the “significant backlog of immigration cases, including hiring additional immigration judges.” The official added, “The matter should be a priority that everyone—including those waiting for adjudication—can rally around.”
The DOJ’s request for assistance from the military underscores the acute nature of the crisis. Cases in immigration court can take years to reach a final determination, with judges and lawyers frequently scheduling hearings more than a year out. The delays have left millions of immigrants in limbo, awaiting decisions that could determine their futures in the United States.
But the Pentagon’s intervention has not been without controversy. Legal experts and immigration advocates have raised alarms about the potential consequences of deploying military lawyers—many of whom may lack experience in the intricacies of immigration law—to such high-stakes roles. Charles Kuck, a founding partner at the Kuck Baxter immigration law firm in Atlanta, told Newsweek: “Just what the Immigration Court needs—more lawyers with no experience in a wildly complicated field with defendants’ lives on the line on each decision. This is not a joke. It’s a travesty. Without a doubt, the immigration court system is broken. But this is not the way to fix it. Politicizing judges is the worst possible outcome for the immigrants in deportation proceedings.”
Similarly, Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, took to X (formerly Twitter) to warn: “The Trump admin plans to double the number of immigration judges, ordering hundreds of military lawyers to serve as immigration judges, despite flimsy legal authority to do so. Notably, immigration law is infamously complex, and judges normally require months of training.”
In an apparent bid to address these concerns, the EOIR recently issued a memo granting itself the authority to appoint any government attorney as a temporary immigration judge, expanding the pool beyond those with a decade of legal experience—a standard previously expected of immigration judges. The memo claims this change will allow the agency to select judges from a “larger pool of well-qualified candidates.” Yet critics argue that the move risks undermining the quality of adjudication at a time when the stakes for defendants could not be higher.
There are also legal guardrails in place. The Pentagon memo emphasizes compliance with the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law that prohibits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. The DOJ, the memo notes, will be responsible for ensuring that any military attorneys serving as immigration judges do not violate this prohibition. The administration’s previous efforts to use the military in unconventional ways to combat illegal immigration and crime have met judicial resistance. On September 2, 2025, a court ruled that the administration “willfully” violated federal law by deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles in early June—a setback that underscores the legal complexities surrounding military involvement in civil matters.
Despite these hurdles, the White House has signaled that it is exploring a variety of options to resolve the backlog, including hiring additional immigration judges and considering further administrative changes. “This is a priority that everyone—including those waiting for adjudication—can rally around,” a White House official reiterated to AP and The Guardian on September 2, 2025.
The debate over the Pentagon’s intervention highlights broader tensions in the U.S. immigration system. Supporters of the move argue that extraordinary action is necessary to address an unprecedented crisis, pointing to the millions of cases clogging the courts and the need for swift resolution. Critics, however, worry that the deployment of military lawyers—many of whom may be unfamiliar with the nuances of immigration law—could lead to rushed or poorly reasoned decisions, potentially jeopardizing the rights of those facing deportation.
As the first group of military attorneys prepares to assume their new roles, the nation’s immigration courts stand at a crossroads. Whether this intervention will bring much-needed relief or introduce new complications remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: the stakes for millions of immigrants and the integrity of the U.S. legal system could not be higher.
With the Pentagon’s move set to double the number of immigration judges, the coming months will be a critical test of whether emergency measures can truly resolve the deep-seated challenges facing America’s immigration courts—or whether they will simply add another layer to an already complex and contentious system.
