“Fired Judges Speak Out”

Continued from Nov. 1 newsletter

“Detention is designed to be awful,” said one of FLPIR’s invited speakers, fired former immigration judge, Jeremiah Johnson. He is now the director of the Habeas Institute at UC Law School San Francisco (known previously as Hastings Law School). He said that the national rate of granting asylum has dropped to 4%, whereas it used to be 60%. In San Francisco, the rate used to be 70-80%. 

Kyra Lilien was another invited speaker.  She is also a fired immigration judge who is now senior counsel at Van Der Hout, LLC, an immigration law firm in the SF Bay Area. She acknowledged that there aren’t enough lawyers. This is due to non-profit lawyers having full caseloads and law firms such as hers being very expensive, though they do some pro bono work. She spoke about an immigrant family that is being supported by a faith community. In another case, a client works for a wealthy family that is paying for legal services. She said, “Those with means need to support those without means."

When asked if they thought that current immigration policies are being driven by efforts to help private companies, such as the GEO Group and CoreCivic, make a lot of money, both speakers responded affirmatively very vigorously. Lilien said, “It is done by design to enrich private corporations or individuals.” 

In response to a question about the status of unaccompanied minors, Johnson said that the current administration is targeting children and removing them. 

Another question focused on whether DACA recipients are safe to take flights. Lilien said that, although they have legal status, she could not say that they (or green card holders) are safe. She advised that immigrants in these situations talk with a lawyer before traveling, either domestically or internationally. 

Johnson shared how there is an attempt to reform the U.S. immigration court system by removing it from the Department of Justice to a separate, independent judiciary department that is independent of the executive branch. It was introduced in March 2026 and is called H.R. 7836, the Real Courts, Rule of Law Act of 2026. 

Mid-way through the event, attendees interested in volunteering to support immigrants could speak with representatives of these programs/organizations: