• The Pentagon has authorized up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges.
• These lawyers will assist in alleviating an immigration court backlog exceeding 3.4 million cases.
• The move comes amid significant turnover among immigration judges, with over 100 judges leaving this year.
• A controversial policy change now allows military lawyers with no prior immigration law experience to preside over cases.
• The initiative has drawn criticism for undermining judicial integrity and due process.

The Pentagon, under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has approved the deployment of up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department to serve as temporary immigration judges. This decision aims to address the significant backlog in immigration cases, which currently exceeds 3.4 million. Groups of 150 attorneys, both military and civilian, are expected to start being sent to the DOJ "as soon as practicable," according to a memo dated August 27, reviewed by the Associated Press and other outlets Los Angeles Times, NPR, and The Hill.

The deployment is in response to the Justice Department's recent loosening of the requirements for temporary immigration judges, now allowing lawyers without extensive immigration law experience to qualify. Previous rules mandated judges to have at least ten years of immigration law experience only CBS News and Newsweek.

Critics, including the American Immigration Lawyers Association, have strongly opposed this initiative, comparing it to a cardiologist performing a hip replacement. They argue that military lawyers, even with some training, lack the necessary expertise to handle complex immigration cases, which they believe compromises due process and judicial integrity Al Jazeera and India Times.

Military and civilian attorneys will receive a crash course in immigration law to prepare for their roles. The Department of Justice has indicated that the judges will serve in their positions for an initial term of 179 days, a time frame that can be renewed. This deployment follows a trend in the Trump administration's approach towards immigration enforcement, which has seen increased military involvement in domestic immigration processes The Hill and CBS News.