Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif., criticized the Trump administration's handling of immigration proceedings as it continues to enact its mass deportation plan.
The administration has faced criticism from human rights organizations, and from other Democratic officials over just who it's targeting for arrest and deportation. They said many of the people who have been apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were in the U.S. legally.
Padilla said the immigration court system is inefficient, and he's concerned that hurts the due process rights of immigrants.
"Whether it's the need for additional access to counsel in person, whether it's a need for translation services — if we're going to be genuine it's ... by providing the due process consideration that is embedded in our constitution," Padilla said.
According to NPR, the Trump administration fired more than 80 immigration judges this year — almost 20 this month.
To help with the backlog of cases, the administration has pulled hundreds of Judge Advocates General (JAGS) — military attorneys — to serve as immigration judges. This creates further concerns, Padilla said.
"The idea of redirecting JAGS — attorneys from the Department of Defense — to do immigration work is not going to improve things," he said. "These are judges that may have a legal background, but not when it comes to immigration. We need more immigration judges to do the work of immigration judges."
Padilla said he'd visit other California immigration hearings before heading back to Washington, D.C. next week.
