VERIFIED NEWS · IMMIGRATION COURTS

EOIR announces 35 immigration judges and other adjudicator appointments

The Executive Office for Immigration Review announced a large group of adjudicator appointments after an August 27 investiture at the Justice Department in Washington.

Officials at a formal event in the Justice Department Great Hall in Washington

Justice Department-produced photograph, published September 11, 2023. It shows the Great Hall where EOIR says the August 27, 2026 investiture was held. It is illustrative and does not depict the 2026 appointees or their swearing-in. Original DOJ gallery ↗

By U.S. Immigration Brief Editorial DeskPublished August 28, 2026Last verified August 28, 2026

What EOIR announced

EOIR reported the swearing-in of one regional deputy chief immigration judge, one administrative law judge, 35 immigration judges, and three temporary immigration judges. Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter administered the oath at the Justice Department’s Great Hall.

The appointments cover several different roles

Immigration judges work within EOIR’s Office of the Chief Immigration Judge and conduct administrative immigration proceedings. A regional deputy chief immigration judge has a supervisory role. Temporary immigration judges are designated for limited service under a separate appointment category. The announced administrative law judge serves within the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, which hears specified immigration-related employment and document-abuse cases rather than ordinary removal proceedings.

Where the immigration judges will serve

EOIR’s 13-page biographical notice assigns the new immigration judges to courts including Adelanto, Concord, Denver, El Paso, Florence, Houston–Greenspoint Park, Hyattsville, Kansas City, LaSalle, Laredo, New Orleans, New York–Federal Plaza, Otero, Philadelphia, Santa Ana, and other locations listed in the federal notice.

What the announcement does not establish

The release does not provide a current nationwide total of sitting judges, compare vacancies before and after the appointments, report the immigration-court backlog, or promise that any individual hearing will move sooner. It also is not an ICE arrest operation, CBP port-of-entry action, regulation, or judicial ruling.

Primary federal sources

Corrections: No corrections have been made. Material corrections are published transparently with an updated verification date.