Judges fired after blocking deportations of pro-Palestinian activists

The Trump administration has fired more immigration judges, including two who earlier this year dismissed high-profile deportation cases against pro-Palestinian student activists, according to the union representing immigration judges.

The National Association of Immigration Judges confirmed on April 13 that six immigration judges were fired last weekend and three were fired on April 3. The firings were first reported last week by The New York Times.

The dismissals included Massachusetts ​judges Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, who were both appointed during ​the Biden administration, according to the union. Patel and Froes had blocked the Trump administration's attempts to deport Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University, and Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student who was born and raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank.

"With these most recent terminations, 113 immigration judges ​have now been fired since January of last year without due process, cause or ​explanation," the National Association of Immigration Judges said, according to Reuters.

The union called the firings "wrong and unjust" and noted that it was very rare for immigration judges to be fired before President Donald Trump returned to the White House. In July 2025, USA TODAY reported that the Department of Justice fired 17 immigration judges from federal courts in 10 states amid the Trump administration's deportation push.

Immigration courts have faced increasing scrutiny as migrants looking to attend regular hearings are detained entering or exiting courtrooms by masked agents. Courts and other federal buildings have become the center of protests across the country, including in Los Angeles and New York.

Deportation cases against Rumeysa Ozturk, Mohsen Mahdawi were dismissed

Ozturk, a child development researcher, was arrested in March 2025 after the State Department revoked her student visa. Her arrest was captured in a viral video that showed masked, plainclothes immigration agents taking Ozturk into custody as she walked on a sidewalk near her Boston-area home.

The incident occurred amid the Trump administration's efforts to deport pro-Palestinian campus activists. Ozturk was arrested after cowriting an opinion piece criticizing Tufts University's response to calls by students to divest from companies with ties to Israel and to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide."

She was released in May 2025 after spending over six weeks at an immigration detention center in Louisiana. In February, Patel ruled that there were no grounds to deport Ozturk.

"Today, I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that despite the justice system's flaws, my case may give hope to those who have also been wronged by the U.S. government," Ozturk said in a statement at the time.

In April 2025, Mahdawi was arrested following his participation in pro-Palestinian protests. Federal authorities detained him while he was arriving for a naturalization interview. He was later held at a correctional facility in Vermont.

After two weeks in detention, a federal judge in Vermont ordered his release. In February, Froes blocked the deportation and said the Department of Homeland Security failed to meet its burden of proving he was removable.

"This decision is an important step towards upholding what fear tried to destroy: the right to speak for peace and justice," Mahdawi said in a statement at the time.

Trump targeted university campuses after pro-Palestinian protests

The Trump administration has been under intense scrutiny for its immigration operations. Some lawmakers and civil rights groups have condemned the controversial crackdown, alleging human rights violations and a disregard for due process.

In 2024, pro-Palestinian protests erupted at university campuses across the country as demonstrators demanded that university endowments divest from Israeli interests and that the federal government end its military assistance to Israel. The protests began after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023 and the subsequent U.S.-supported Israeli assault on Gaza.

After Trump began his second term in 2025, the president cracked down on pro-Palestinian activism by attempting to deport international students and threatening a funding freeze for universities where protests were held. The crackdown has faced judicial obstacles.

Trump and his allies argued that some pro-Palestinian campus protesters physically attacked or harassed Jewish students and community members, and accused university administrators of allowing antisemitism to flourish on campuses. Protesters have said the president wrongly conflated criticism of Israel's assault on Gaza with antisemitism, and ​advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.

Contributing: Eduardo Cuevas, Trevor Hughes, and John Bacon, USA TODAY; Reuters