Some things I think I think about US immigration judges
and their standing. It occurred to me yesterday while I was learning some
Talmud with a law professor and one of my teachers from rabbinical school. And
while I am certain that others have had this insight, and are better able at
articulating it, I still wish to share it with you.
We were learning BT Sanhedrin 6b, where the rabbis are
discussing how judges should deal with litigants who are opposites of each
other: rich/poor, and strong/weak. ‘Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa says: From where
is it derived that a student who is sitting before his teacher and he sees a
point of merit for a poor person or liability for a wealthy person, from where
is it derived that he should not be silent? As it is stated: “You shall not
be afraid before any man” (Deuteronomy 1:17); he should fear neither his
teacher nor the wealthy litigant. Rabbi Ḥanin says: The verse intimates: Do not
suppress your statement before any man.’
But what the discussion really made me think about is
this passage from the Torah: “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your
gates, which the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they
shall judge the people with righteous justice. You shall not pervert justice:
you shall not show partiality; neither shall you take a bribe; for a bribe
blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. Justice,
justice shall you pursue, that you may live, and inherit the land which the
LORD your God gives you.” Deuteronomy 16:18-20
What does this have to do with immigration judges?
Everything! Unlike Article III federal judges, who have lifetime tenure unless
impeached and convicted, and thus are less subject to outside influence, immigration
judges are employees of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which is
part of the Department of Justice. Their livelihood depends upon their employer
being satisfied with their work. They are “executive branch officials”, in the
words of a Department of Justice statement. They get their paycheck from one of
the litigants who appear before them every case, every day. And as we have seen
in the past few months, the current administration is perfectly content to fire
these judges and/or ignore their rulings.
This isn’t righteous justice. It’s perverted justice. It's broken justice. It's unjust, and unworthy of us.
And we need to object as loudly as possible.
Silence is complicity. BT Yevamot 87b
