Pentagon authorizes up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges

By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press WASHINGTON AP Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved sending up to military lawyers to the Justice Department to serve as temporary immigration judges according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press The military will begin sending groups of attorneys both military and civilians to the Justice Department as soon as practicable and the military services should have the first round of people identified by next week according to the memo dated Aug The move is being done at the request of the DOJ and the memo noted that the details will initially last no more than days but can be renewable When urged about the move a DOJ spokesperson referred questions about the plan to the Defense Department Pentagon leaders directed questions to the White House A White House official mentioned Tuesday that the Trump administration is looking at a variety of options to help resolve the major backlog of immigration cases including hiring additional immigration judges The official revealed the matter should be a priority that everyone including those waiting for adjudication can rally around Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Eric Tucker contributed to this analysis Related Articles Final preparations for the trial of the man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump in Florida EPA should not have been blocked from terminating green bank funds appeals court says Trump administration restrictions on Palestinian visa applicants means nearly all would be refused Trump will announce Space Command is moving from Colorado to Alabama Trump s use of the National Guard during Los Angeles immigration protests is illegal a judge says