In Washington’s long history of blurred lines between military and civilian authority, few moments are as telling as this: hundreds of Defense Department lawyers, both in uniform and out, are being reassigned to serve — at least for now — as immigration judges.
According to Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, the initiative is aimed at easing the massive backlog of immigration cases by expanding the Justice Department’s judicial capacity. “These DOD attorneys will augment existing resources to help further combat a backlog of cases by presiding over immigration hearings,” Parnell said Tuesday.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved the deployment of up to 600 lawyers to the Justice Department. Internal documents reviewed by the Associated Press indicate the first group of 150 could be dispatched “as soon as practicable.” Each lawyer is expected to serve for 179 days.
However, concerns have mounted over the suitability of the plan. Military attorneys are not trained in immigration law, and one U.S. official told Reuters that even with accelerated instruction, their ability to function as impartial judges would be questionable.
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The head of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Ben Johnson, condemned the initiative, likening it to “having a cardiologist do a hip replacement.” He warned that the plan risked “gutting due process” and eroding public confidence in the integrity of the immigration court system.
Critics also pointed to Defense Secretary Hegseth’s own skepticism of military lawyers. In his 2024 book, The War on Warriors, he argued that many spend more time prosecuting U.S. troops than pursuing external threats, raising doubts about his confidence in their expanded role.
The move underscores the administration’s broader strategy of enlisting military resources in domestic immigration enforcement. In recent years, this has included sending National Guard units to the U.S.-Mexico border, deploying troops in American cities to back up federal immigration agents, detaining undocumented migrants at military facilities, and even using military aircraft to conduct deportation flights.
On the same day the Pentagon’s plan was announced, a federal court ruled that the administration had “willfully” violated federal law by sending National Guard troops to Los Angeles earlier this summer — a judgment likely to fuel further debate about the growing military footprint in domestic affairs.