Two federal immigration judges plan discussion of challenges facing immigration courts

Two federal immigration judges plan to discuss what is working in the immigration adjudication system and what needs to be fixed at a National Press Club Newsmaker press conference on Aug. 27 at 10 a.m. in the NPC's Zenger Room.

NPC Newsmaker events are open to credentialed media and Press Club members. It is free of charge and no registration is required.

Immigration has dominated the headlines in recent weeks. What do we do with children illegally crossing the border? Can our courts handle the surge of cases? President Barack Obama has called for hiring more immigration judges. Will it help? What reform measures will make a difference?

Judge Dana Leigh Marks, a federal administrative judge in San Francisco who serves as President of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ), and Judge Denise Noonan Slavin, a Miami-based administrative judge who hears cases in a federal-detention center and who also serves as executive vice president of the judge’s union, plan to describe what they and other judges are seeing in their courtrooms.

Federal immigration judges are generally barred from speaking out on issues that affect their courts. Judges Marks and Slavin plan to speak in their roles as NAIJ leaders. NAIJ is an affiliate of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.