Immigration Judges Facing Performance Reviews
The L.A. Times this week has an article titled Immigration Judges Get New Regulations. The article begins:
Under pressure from human rights groups, the Bush administration announced plans Wednesday to improve the performance of immigration judges, responding to reports of intemperate and abusive jurists and complaints about how the system has dealt with a growing backlog of cases.
To attorneys who regularly face immigration judges, it is refreshing that the Justice Department is working on creating a system that will increase accountability for judges. As attorneys, we understand that judges will not always rule in our favor, but we do not expect to be insulted in front of our clients just because the judge feels like it. The clients who are before the judges are already scared about the possibility of having to leave their families and be forced to return to their native countries. The last thing they need is a judge who does not look at their cases objectively and then proceeds to insult them just because he can.