Trump Administration Fires Two Judges in Student Deportation Cases

The Trump administration has dismissed two immigration judges who terminated deportation proceedings against international students advocating for Palestinian rights, intensifying efforts to overhaul the nation's immigration court system.

Roopal Patel, based in Boston, and Nina Froes, based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, were among six judges removed last Friday by the Department of Justice, which oversees the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Both Patel and Froes were appointed in 2024 during the Biden administration and had been serving probationary terms. Their dismissals came shortly after they ruled in favor of the students in high-profile cases that drew national attention.

Patel presided over the case of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish Ph.D. student at Tufts University. Öztürk was detained by immigration officers in plainclothes near her Somerville apartment last year after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked her student visa. Officials cited her co-authorship of an opinion piece in the Tufts student newspaper criticizing the university's response to pro-Palestinian campus activities as a national security concern. Video footage of her arrest spread widely online,...