The Trump administration is pushing US immigration judges to dismiss pending cases so that law enforcement can quickly deport more immigrants, NBC reported on Wednesday. 

A memo obtained from the US Justice Department showed that it asked the judges to allow Homeland Security Department lawyers to make motions orally and then rapidly move to grant dismissals, instead of allowing defendants the typical 10-day response period. 

NBC noted that immigration judges report to the executive branch, not to the Justice Department.

“Oral Decisions must be completed within the same hearing slot on the day testimony and arguments are concluded,” the May 30 memo notes. 

The Justice Department also told judges that “[n]o additional documentation or briefing is required” to grant the dismissals. 

A migrant and a legal observer lay on the floor as they are detained by federal immigration officers at U.S. immigration court in Manhattan, in New York City, U.S., June 6, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/File Photo)
A migrant and a legal observer lay on the floor as they are detained by federal immigration officers at U.S. immigration court in Manhattan, in New York City, U.S., June 6, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/David 'Dee' Delgado/File Photo)

Immigrants can be deported without seeing court 

Once their cases are dismissed, the immigrants can be deported without a chance to make their case for asylum in court. 

Once the immigrants are in expedited removal processing, they are “subject to mandatory detention” and can be taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The NBC report comes as President Donald Trump cracked down on immigration protests across the US. Trump deployed the National Guard and the Marines to Los Angeles, where police arrested nearly 200 people on Tuesday. 

Trump claimed that his unprecedented move was to "liberate Los Angeles," where a " full-blown assault on peace, on public order and on national sovereignty" was taking place. 

However, a source close to the immigration judges' union told NBC that the Justice Department's move was upsetting to many. 

“They think it makes a mockery of the whole process and that it flies in the face of what Trump ran on. Immigration enforcement means it’s done in a fair manner ... and this isn’t fair,” the source said. 

Jason Houser, the chief of staff at ICE during the Biden administration, said that dismissing cases will allow ICE to arrest more people. However, he noted that the memo does not mean that those arrested will have their deportations expedited because ICE lacks the facilities to detain people. 

He also said that “targets vetted migrants who were working and had legal status."

“Flooding the system with thousands of noncriminals wastes time and resources when federal law enforcement should be focused on national security threats.”

NBC reported that some 51,000 immigrants were in custody in late May, even though the agency only has the funds to hold 41,500 people.