Ex-Trump Appointee Embarks on Migrant Trail as Immigration Judge
Jeremiah Johnson traveled into the Guatemalan highlands with a bouquet and a notebook. He wanted to meet relatives of a Mam-speaking indigenous family he had granted asylum. His visit followed his removal from the U.S. immigration bench.
The Guatemalan visit
Johnson rode a crowded bus toward villages southeast of Todos Santos. He had no phone number and relied on a local veterinarian who spoke Mam.
The family had fled violent conflict over a well. Johnson saw the grave of a man who had been beaten to death in 2017.
The asylum case
The applicants came from a Mam-speaking Mayan community at odds with Spanish-speaking Ladinos. A dispute over water led to attacks and one murder, their asylum filings stated.
The family filed an I-589 asylum application and asked that their names remain protected. Their attorney, Alicia Chen, requested confidentiality to safeguard the relatives.
Last ruling and personal closure
Johnson’s final courtroom decision granted asylum to that family of four. He said the decision was delivered through a Mam interpreter.
After his firing, he returned to the family to offer flowers and to see the grave. He described the visit as a way to close his last case in person.
Court shake-up and firings
Since January 2025, the Department of Justice fired at least 107 immigration judges. About two dozen of those removals took place in San Francisco.
Nationwide, another roughly 50 judges left or were dismissed. The San Francisco court faces closure ordered by the administration, with cases moved to Concord.
San Francisco’s caseload
The San Francisco court ranks third in asylum cases, after New York and Miami, according to TRAC. Many of its judges had higher-than-average asylum grant rates.
Johnson said he granted asylum about 89% of the time during nearly ten years on the bench. He believed that rate contributed to scrutiny from the Justice Department.
National numbers and policy context
The immigration court backlog stands near 3.8 million cases. About two-thirds of the backlog, roughly 2.4 million, involve asylum applications.
The White House said asylum is now granted in about 7% of cases, citing media analysis. By contrast, the asylum grant rate including abandoned cases was about 36% in the last year of the prior administration.
Administrative actions
A June 2025 DOJ memo warned that some judges showed bias favoring applicants over the Department of Homeland Security. The administration and some advisers have openly criticized asylum claims.
Trump homeland security adviser Stephen Miller posted on X that asylum claims were often false. These critiques helped drive personnel changes in immigration courts.
Johnson’s background and path
Johnson, age 52, was appointed to the bench by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He trained at the University of San Francisco School of Law.
He previously worked as an asylum officer for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Early internships included work at the International Rescue Committee.
Aftermath and advocacy
Johnson began seeing heavier dockets before his dismissal, handling up to six cases a day starting in July. Three of those were detained cases involving people in ICE custody.
Lawmakers have proposed reforms to protect immigration judges from political firing. Representative Zoe Lofgren reintroduced a bill to create an independent immigration court system.
On the migrant trail
After his dismissal, Johnson traveled parts of the migrant trail in the United States and abroad. He met humanitarians in Arizona and spoke with border residents and retired agents.
As an Ex-Trump appointee and former immigration judge, his journeys mixed fact-finding with personal closure. He documented conversations and returned to the Guatemalan village to witness the human consequences of his final ruling.
