The ad that seeks to recruit "deportation judges" boasts an additional 25% signing bonus for first-time federal employees in cities such as San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Concord, Sacramento, Santa Ana, Boston, and Chelmsford.
The incoming group of judges includes 77 full-time and five temporary judges who will help decide asylum cases in the United States.
Since returning to office in 2025, the Trump administration has fired or pushed out roughly more than 100 immigration judges nationwide out of a corps of over 700 judges at the start of his term.
At least 14 of those were in San Francisco. Many judges are still waiting for an explanation.
RELATED: 21 immigration judges fired in San Francisco, many reportedly without explanation
Major metro courts such as San Francisco and New York were hit the hardest, with cuts having an outsized impact.
MORE: DOJ closes San Francisco immigration court ahead of schedule, leaving thousands of cases in limbo
In a statement, the Executive Office for Immigration Review said immigration judges "consider all evidence and arguments presented by both parties and decide each case in a manner that is timely, impartial, and consistent with applicable law."
Bill Hing, professor of law and migration studies at the University of San Francisco, is raising concerns about the hiring process and the potential impact on asylum decisions.
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"We should expect that this is the end of asylum. When you appear before one of these 77 judges, you're going to be denied and it's a shame because this isn't about fairness. This isn't about hiring people who are supposed to be neutral. They're hiring people to specifically deport people," said Professor Hing.
Professor Hing also questioned the professional background of some of the new judges.
"They were former ICE prosecutors. They were from the Judge Advocate General's Court of the military. So, these are prosecutors. They basically are new judges that are being ordered to basically deny asylum and deport people," Hing said.
As part of the recruitment package, the Department of Justice is offering salaries ranging from $159,000 to $207,000 per year.
Concerns are also being raised by legal leaders about how the new judges were evaluated before being appointed.
"We do have some concerns about the immigration process, due process in and of itself. For people who have their cases decided. We also have concerns about the judges and, you know, making sure that they're qualified to hear the cases, understand the cases, and enforce the law," said Terrance Evans, president of the California Lawyers Association.
As the new judges prepare to take on their roles, questions remain about the future of asylum decisions and the broader immigration court system.