Donald Trump’s newly appointed chief immigration judge said the number of people living in the United States illegally could be as high as 25 million to 30 million — a figure that far exceeds most official estimates — as the administration ramps up efforts to shrink a massive immigration court backlog.
Daren Margolin, who leads the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), made the remarks in an interview with Axios. EOIR, a division of the Justice Department, oversees the nation’s immigration court system.
“The reality is, we will never have enough judges to handle currently 3.6-plus million cases, and I believe 25 to 30 million people … are here in the United States illegally,” Margolin told Axios.
The current immigration court backlog stands at more than 3.6 million pending cases. Margolin argued that the scale of unauthorized immigration underscores the urgency of accelerating case processing as the administration pursues mass deportation efforts.
Margolin, a retired Marine Corps colonel, officially assumed leadership of EOIR in October. He told Axios that he stepped down as an immigration judge in early 2024 due to disagreements with the Biden administration’s handling of increased migration at the southern border.
“Personally, I felt like a co-conspirator in treason,” Margolin said.
According to data shared with Axios, the immigration court backlog declined by 341,006 cases between Trump’s inauguration last year and Jan. 30. One contributing factor was a drop in new cases associated with lower border crossings during Trump’s first year back in office.
The next phase of the administration’s deportation strategy is expected to revolve around immigration courts. Because most cases ultimately result in final removal orders, faster adjudications could enable U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to carry out deportations more quickly.
Margolin has also signaled interest in limiting aspects of the appeals process for removal orders, which could expand eligibility for expedited deportation.
To address staffing shortages, EOIR launched a public recruitment campaign that drew roughly 1,700 applications for immigration judge positions. Margolin declined to specify how many applicants have been hired but said the first group would begin work within days.
In addition, about 50 temporary military attorneys — known as Judge Advocate General officers — have been brought on to assist. They undergo the same six- to eight-week training program as other immigration judge hires.
Before becoming EOIR director, Margolin served from 2020 to 2024 as an assistant chief immigration judge in California and previously worked as an assistant chief counsel for ICE in Adelanto, California. He also spent more than two decades in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in roles including military judge, prosecutor, appellate prosecutor, defense counsel and staff judge advocate.
Margolin’s estimate of 25 million to 30 million unauthorized immigrants is significantly higher than commonly cited figures. Department of Homeland Security data from 2022 and a 2023 analysis by the Pew Research Center place the illegal immigrant population at roughly half that number.
The discrepancy highlights an ongoing debate over the size of the unauthorized population and the scope of enforcement efforts as the administration intensifies its focus on immigration courts and deportations.
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