Fired immigration judges appeal labor board ruling backing their removal

By Daniel Wiessner and Nate Raymond

March 23 (Reuters) - Two former immigration judges, who were among dozens fired after President Donald Trump took office last year, appealed a federal labor board ruling on Monday that upheld the U.S. Attorney General's authority to terminate them, their lawyers said.

Lawyers for Brandon Jaroch and Megan Jackler said they had filed a petition asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reverse a Friday ruling by the Republican-controlled Merit Systems Protection Board that they claimed could redefine the scope of presidential authority over the federal civil service.

Jaroch and Jackler are among more than 100 immigration judges who have been fired since Trump returned to the White House last year, as the U.S. Department of Justice moves to recruit what it dubs "deportation judges" as part of the president's hard-line immigration agenda.

Immigration judges, who are employees of the Justice Department, hear deportation cases including migrants' petitions for asylum and other protections from removal.

Jaroch and Jackler were terminated on February 14. An administrative law judge had reversed their removals from office over the Trump administration's objections, finding they were entitled to the protections of a federal law that details the requirements for taking actions against federal employees.

But the merit board, which currently has two Republican members and one vacancy, said on Friday that because immigration judges exercise significant policymaking and administrative authority, they are "inferior officers" and the Attorney General has the power under the U.S. Constitution to remove them at will.

"The authority provided to them ... placed them in a position that had the potential to dramatically impact the rights of those inside our borders, as well as the nation’s standing in the world," the board wrote.

Nathaniel Zelinsky, a senior counsel with the Washington Litigation Group who represents Jaroch and Jackler, called the decision a massive power grab by the Trump administration that could be applied in future cases to other types of federal employees.

"If the Trump Administration prevails, the federal government will quickly regress into a corrupt patronage system without any legal protections for the millions of civil servants who honorably serve the American people every day," Zelinsky said in a statement.

A Justice Department spokesman said: “As the board correctly held, these terminations are lawful under Article II [of the U.S. Constitution] and this Department of Justice is confident that this decision will withstand further legal scrutiny.”

The merit board is the exclusive avenue for federal employees to appeal firings and other forms of discipline. The Trump administration has proposed a rule that would eliminate that process and channel those cases to the Office of Personnel Management, which reports directly to the White House.

On Friday, the board rejected claims by Jaroch and Jackler that its ruling in the case would apply to federal workers far beyond immigration judges. The case, the board said, was "a classic as-applied challenge" that only considered the specific nature of the positions held by Jaroch and Jackler.

More than 22,500 appeals have been filed with the merit board since Trump took office last year and moved to downsize the federal workforce, including through the Department of Government Efficiency initially led by Elon Musk. Before that, the board typically received a few thousand complaints each year.

Trump last year fired MSPB Chair Cathy Harris, a Democrat, in an unprecedented move that paralyzed the board and prompted her to sue. A federal judge reinstated Harris but that ruling was paused and, in December, reversed by an appeals court .

Harris has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case. The court is expected to rule soon on whether Trump had the power to fire a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, and its decision will likely have some impact on Harris' case.

The case is Jackler and Jaroch Consolidation v. Department of Justice, U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, Docket No. CF-0752-26-0069-I-1.

For Jackler and Jaroch: Robert Erbe of Erbe Law Office; Nathaniel Zelinsky of Washington Litigation Group

For DOJ: Lourdes Guillaume, Matthew Pizzo and Robert Ley

For OPM: Patrick Ehler and Jordan Perkins

Read more:

Trump administration names immigration judges with enforcement backgrounds amid deportation push

Trump administration fires numerous New York immigration judges

Trump administration names 33 new immigration judges, most with military backgrounds

Trump seeks to limit legal options for fired federal workers