The National Association of Immigration Judges on July 1 filed a suit against the Trump administration over a gag rule arising out of a ruling issued by the Trump administration in January prohibiting immigration judges from speaking about their job or their take on US policy. The subject gag rule requires the Judge under no circumstances to opine, at a public event or on a call with a reporter, on what happens in their courtrooms, or what they believe should happen there. The Trump administration is also trying to decertify the union of Judges. In the event that effort succeeds, all immigration judges will then be effectively barred from speaking about immigration law or policy. For example, judges who speak to the press about the dangers of conducting court proceedings during a pandemic could, in the future, be terminated for such speech.
The lawsuit notes that this silencing occurs at the same time that Trump made immigration a signature issue of his presidential campaign. Immigration judges are well situated to comment on that issue. The lawsuit argues that Judges are the US citizens who have not ceded their First Amendment right to free speech.
It is interesting to note that it is a fundamental part of Judges’ responsibility to educate the public about immigration courts; the challenged gag rule prevents Judges from fulfilling that critical role. It remains to be seen how this landscape turns sides going forward. The Upcoming elections would play a vital role.
Vijay Bhagwati, Esq.
Founder and Managing Partner
