Former judges speak out on Trump admin's immigration court purges

Source: CBS News

Updated on: April 19, 2026 / 9:20 AM EDT


At an Oct. 27, 2024 campaign rally during his run for president, Donald Trump told his audience, "On Day One, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history." And he did. President Trump began his second term by dispatching troops and armed ICE agents to carry out aggressive arrests and mass detentions, mainly in blue states.

The president appointed as his Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, whose appetite for deportation, and publicity, appeared to match (and at times eclipse) his own. That, and pinning her promotional campaign's $220 million price tag on the boss, may have ruffled a few important feathers at the White House. Secretary Noem was fired – signaling a change in tone for the administration, but no change in mission. You have only to check out what's happening in our immigration courts.

Former immigration judge Ryan Wood told us there is no doubt among immigration judges these days as to what the administration wants: "Zero doubt, they want numbers, they want deportations. They want to keep as many people detained as possible, and stress the system," he said. When Wood retired a little more than a year ago, he was an assistant chief immigration judge in the Midwest. He probably could've stayed on. He was appointed during President Trump's first term, and denied many more asylum applications than he granted.

But even so, he didn't like what he was seeing: "I have seen judges that have not made it very long in this new regime, where they've been walked off the bench for whatever reasons … They're in the middle of dictating an oral decision and they get an email, or they get a tap on the shoulder, literally on the bench, saying, 'Please come with me.'" Asked if that had happened in years past, Wood replied, "No, never. We've never seen anything like this."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-judges-speak-out-on-trump-admins-immigration-court-purges/