Temporary Immigration Judge Integrity Act

New temporary immigration judge program

If enacted, the bill would let the Attorney General appoint temporary immigration judges to help reduce immigration court backlogs. Appointments would be renewable, with each term no more than 6 months. Eligible appointees would include five groups: former Board of Immigration Appeals members or appellate immigration judges; former immigration judges; administrative law judges employed within, or retired from, the Executive Office for Immigration Review; administrative law judges at other federal agencies with at least 10 years of immigration-law experience and written consent from their agency head; and Department of Justice attorneys with at least 10 years of immigration-law experience. Temporary judges would have the same authority as regular immigration judges for assigned cases. The Attorney General, with the Chief and Regional Chief Immigration Judges, would set caseload assignments, oversight, and work-product evaluations. Training would require at least 8 weeks of initial training and at least 1 day of ongoing training every 2 weeks of service. The training requirement would be waived for former judges in the first two groups if their temporary service begins within 2 years of their prior service. Each person could serve up to four consecutive 6-month terms (two years). After reaching the two-year limit, individuals could not be reappointed for at least three years.