WASHINGTON — Over the last two years, U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales has appointed more than two dozen individuals as federal immigration judges.
The new jurists include a former treasurer of the Louisiana Republican Party, who was a legal advisor to the Bush Florida recount team after the 2000 presidential election. There is also a former GOP congressional aide who had tracked voter fraud issues for the Justice Department, and a Texan appointed by then-Gov. George W. Bush to a seat on the state library commission.
One thing missing on many of their resumes: a background in immigration law.
These lawyers are among a growing number of the nation's more than 200 immigration judges who have little or no experience in the law they were appointed to enforce.
The admission by former Justice Department official Monica M. Goodling this week that federal immigration judges were screened for their political credentials and loyalty to the Republican Party in possible violation of civil service laws is drawing new attention to the usually low-profile immigration bench.
The selection process that Goodling described also appeared at odds with Gonzales' own stated efforts to reform the trouble-plagued immigration-law system by bringing in experts and establishing tougher performance standards for judges.
Goodling testified that as a senior counsel to Gonzales in 2005 and 2006, she considered factors such as party affiliation and political donations when screening immigration judge applicants.
She said she did not remember in how many cases she applied such a test.
Of the 226 immigration judges around the country, 75 have been appointed during the Bush administration -- 26 of them during Gonzales' tenure. The judges handled more than 300,000 cases last year, including deportation and asylum proceedings.
Immigration lawyers and judges said Goodling's revelation explained what they perceived as a growing politicization of the immigration bench in recent years.
"In the last few years, we have seen the appointment of a good number of immigration judges with no background whatsoever in immigration ... which really makes you wonder how it is they are being appointed to those positions," said Crystal Williams, deputy director of programs at the American Immigration Lawyers Assn. in Washington.
In light of Goodling's testimony, Williams said, "I think we might have an answer."
