September 3, 2025

Press Contact:  media@haitianbridge.org , info@haitianbridge.org

SAN DIEGO, CA — Haitian Bridge Alliance condemns the Trump administration’s decision to authorize up to 600 military lawyers —including from the National Guard and reserves—as temporary immigration judges, a move that risks eroding due process and undermining the rights of noncitizens. With the immigration court backlog now standing at approximately 3.5 million cases, the Department of Defense’s plan to double the number of immigration judges represents a dangerous shortcut toward militarizing the adjudicatory process. Immigration law is notoriously intricate, requiring years of specialized training to fairly adjudicate asylum claims, relief petitions, and removal proceedings. Military attorneys, trained primarily under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, simply lack the depth of experience needed to manage life-altering deportation hearings—raising serious concerns about compromised fairness and the violation of immigrants’ rights.

Haitian Bridge Alliance highlights that, rather than addressing the root causes of court delays—such as inadequate staffing, poor funding for legal support services, and systemic barriers to access—the administration has opted for a militarized and temporary fix. The American Immigration Lawyers Association, along with legal professionals, has already criticized this initiative as harmful  to the integrity of the immigration court system, asserting that JAGs are not adequately prepared for the complexity of immigration matters. The stakes could not be higher: immigrants often come before courts without counsel, with their futures—whether separation from family, detention, or even deportation—hanging in the balance. Entrusting such pivotal decisions to underqualified personnel not only betrays justice, but it perpetuates a system that disproportionately harms Black and Brown communities, including Haitians.

“Deploying military lawyers in immigration courts is a recipe for disaster,” says Guerline Jozef, Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance. “Without meaningful training in immigration law, these temporary judges pose a direct threat to due process and the fundamental rights of asylum seekers. Our communities deserve judges committed to justice, not military expediency.” Haitian Bridge Alliance calls on the administration and Congress to invest in long-term solutions: hiring fully qualified immigration judges, boosting public defense and legal assistance funding, and reforming procedural backlogs—rather than imposing a short-sighted, militarized band-aid.

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ABOUT HAITIAN BRIDGE ALLIANCE

Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), also known as “The Bridge”, is a grassroots community organization that advocates for fair and humane immigration policies, foreign policy, and provides migrants and immigrants with humanitarian, legal, and social services, with a particular focus on Black migrants, the Haitian community, women and girls, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and survivors of torture and other human rights abuses. HBA also seeks to elevate the issues unique to Black migrants and build solidarity and a collective movement toward policy change. Anpil men chay pa lou (“Many hands make the load light”).
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