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This week, immigration attorneys had their worst fears confirmed: The U.S. government appears to be specifically targeting Somali nationals seeking asylum in a disturbing new process that no other asylum-seekers are facing. Data from the Department of Justice reveals that over half of Somali nationals who had an open asylum case were suddenly reassigned, given a new judge and a new hearing date mere weeks away. This is not normal; immigration court is deeply backlogged and most cases of asylum—one of the most complex forms of U.S. immigration—were being assigned well into 2029 and 2030. Lawyers argue this fast-track policy is unlawful and will deny thousands of Somali immigrants a fair hearing. The news broke just as President Donald Trump went on another xenophobic tirade against Somali refugees, calling Somalia a “disgusting country, one of the worst countries in the world,” and calling refugees from Somalia “stupid people.”

Trump’s horrifying abuse is apparently trickling down into the immigration courts themselves. According to bklg.org, an immigration tool that analyzes publicly available court data, there are an estimated 3,366 open Somali asylum cases nationwide and 2,230 have recently been reassigned, impacting asylum-seekers in 34 different states. In most reassigned cases, 88 percent, Somali immigrants were transferred to an out-of-state judge in Texas, Georgia, California, or Louisiana. Most of these judges are considered senior-level, as they sit under the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, which oversees the more than 600 immigration judges all across the country.

This is significant because asylum cases are deeply complex, requiring a mountain of factual evidence to prove an immigrant faces legitimate threats of persecution in their home country. Immigration attorneys must produce all sorts of documentation, witness testimony, and evidence,........

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