Trump fired four top immigration court officers shortly after taking office

Late Monday, the Trump administration removed four top officials from the Justice Department's Executive Office of Immigration Review, which controls U.S. immigration courts.

The top immigration judge, Sheila McNulty, the interim director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review, Mary Cheng, the office's general counsel, Jill Anderson, and the head of policy, Lauren Alder Reid, were all sacked. Everyone was a civil servant, not a political appointee.

“My career Senior Executive Service colleagues and I are shocked and severely disappointed in the decision to remove us from our positions without notice or cause. We have dedicated our careers to upholding the rule of law, regardless of the administration. Our continued pursuit of justice will not be diminished,” Alder Reid said.

The officials, who had decades of experience running the nation's congested immigration courts, were not given advance notice of the firings, according to one of those sacked. More than 700 immigration judges work for the Justice Department, deciding whether or not people seeking asylum in the United States may lawfully stay there. The judicial system has a record backlog of almost 3 million cases.

The firings occurred shortly after President Donald Trump issued a number of immigration-related executive orders Monday night. The Day 1 directives and firings reflect Trump's campaign vows to deport millions of people and reform the American immigration system as soon as he takes office.