DOJ Defends Reassignment of Military Lawyers to Serve as Immigration Judges

Source: Newsweek

Published Nov 15, 2025 at 05:36 PM EST updated Nov 15, 2025 at 05:46 PM EST


The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a 13-page defense of the decision to temporarily reassign Defense Department lawyers to immigration tasks, saying that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may do so since the lawyers will work "on a full-time basis, in an entirely civilian capacity, under the supervision of civilian DOJ supervisors."

"Under our longstanding view, those conditions are sufficient to comply with the PCA’s terms," Thomas Elliot Gaiser, assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Council, wrote, referring to the Posse Comitatus Act, which some critics have said would block the move.

Why It Matters

The DOJ oversees the immigration court system, where judges determine whether immigrants are eligible to remain in the United States or not. In August, Hegseth authorized the deployment of up to 600 military lawyers, known as Judge Advocate Generals (JAGs) to the DOJ to serve as temporary immigration judges, including 150 attorneys of military and civilian background to be deployed to assist with the increasing caseload as some judges departed their posts and recruitment under the Trump administration slowed.

The DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), had 700 immigration judges at the end of the Biden administration, with that number reduced to about 600 under the second Trump administration, with some judges allegedly fired without obvious cause.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/doj-defends-reassignment-of-military-lawyers-to-serve-as-immigration-judges-11054409