The U.S. Department of Justice dismissed 8 judges tasked with immigration cases in New York, last Monday, according to the association representing them, on Tuesday, in the midst of a campaign waged by the Donald Trump administration against immigration.
The National Association of Immigration Judges reported that all eight judges work at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, which houses a court responsible for reviewing the cases of immigrants seeking to legalize their status, confirming media reports on this matter.
For months, masked elements of the federal police have been patrolling the corridors of this building daily, stopping immigrants as they leave court sessions, under the watchful eyes of the press also present every day.
Video clips of clashes between these elements and immigrants have spread around the world, making this building a symbolic site of the brutal repression waged by Donald Trump's administration against irregular immigrants in the country.
The reasons for specifically choosing these eight judges for dismissal remain unknown, but they are added to approximately 90 judges who have been dismissed this year across the country, according to a count conducted by the New York Times (out of approximately 600).
Immigrant rights advocacy groups believe that the dismissal of the judges aims to replace them with others more in line with government policy.
