Immigration judge union seeks recognition as top judge quits

By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The National Association of Immigration Judges has asked the federal government to restore its union recognition after the Trump administration stripped its official status and the system’s chief judge resigned after two years on the job. Thursday’s developments come at a critical time for the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, which runs the courts. The judges’ backlog has tripled to 1.8 million cases since 2017. Tracy Short says his decision to step down as chief immigration judge was “difficult and not one that I envisioned I would be making.”