Justice Dept. accused of undermining a judge’s independence

PHILADELPHIA » The nation’s immigration judges on Wednesday accused the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions of undermining a Philadelphia judge’s independence by having cases removed from his court, apparently because the federal officials deemed him too slow in making decisions on deportation orders.

A grievance filed by the National Association of Immigration Judges union asks for the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review to acknowledge in writing that it will not interfere with the “decisional authority” of judges in the assignment or reassignment of cases. Officials with the union said the cases were reassigned seemingly to get an outcome the federal government desired.

The grievance stems from the case of a Guatemalan immigrant who had come to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor several years ago and had missed several court hearings.

Attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security had asked that the judge issue a deportation order in the man’s absence from court.

Judge Steven A. Morley instead suspended the case to ask for briefs to examine whether proper notice had been sent to the man.

The agency then reassigned the case to a supervisory judge who traveled from Virginia to hear the matter and issued a deportation order.

The union says dozens of additional cases also were removed from Morley, and they would like them to be returned to his docket.