05/26/2026
Opinion | Immigrants vs. the deportation machine
This is America today.
By Steven C. Thal
Guest contributor(s) to the Minnesota Star Tribune
May 25, 2026
I shed a tear recently in immigration court. It wasn’t just for the mother-and-daughter clients from Guatemala who sat next to me, crying after they heard the judge say they would be deported to Guatemala, but also for an immigration court system that has lost its moral compass for justice and humanity.
Despite my 43 years of experience representing clients in hundreds of court cases, there was nothing I could have said or done differently that would have changed the outcome. The “deportation machine” was preprogrammed for this outcome. All I could do was take copious notes of issues I might raise in an appeal to keep alive my clients’ hope of remaining safely in the U.S., away from persecution in Guatemala.
On April 12, 2019, Maria and her daughter Rosa (not their real names) crossed the Southern border near El Paso. They immediately surrendered voluntarily to authorities and expressed their fear of returning to Guatemala. So why did they come here to claim asylum? They were seeking a better life free from domestic violence, free from gang violence and free from a failed government unable to provide police protection. They were seeking safety from the danger that had put their lives in jeopardy in their home country.
Maria explained in her asylum application that the insecurity in Guatemala became unbearable for her family:
In addition to having suffered beatings from my husband and being a victim of ongoing domestic abuse for years, the Mara 18 gang would extort what little money my husband made selling chickens. One day four men, some with their faces covered and carrying fi****ms, forced their way into our home. What was frightening was they knew our names and the names of my children. They threatened us with death, and I noticed their weapons had silencers, which meant if they shot us no one would hear. While they beat my husband, I began to pray with my two older children, while my youngest, 8-year-old daughter slept in another room, unaware of the danger we faced. Desperate to protect my daughter, I begged the attackers to let me into her room, where I found her being s*xually molested by the gang members. This was undoubtedly the worst harm I suffered in Guatemala, because I could not protect my children. We could not go to the police since they were infiltrated by the gangs which had caused us harm and we feared further retaliation if we filed a report.
At one time, women in a case like this would have been granted asylum. However, in 2025, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi imposed restrictive rulings, undermining asylum claims for survivors of domestic violence. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), in a series of rulings, has gutted protections for not only women fleeing violence but also anyone escaping gang-related violence. The BIA has ruled that persecution based solely on s*x or gender does not typically meet the “particular social group” requirement to merit asylum. In May of this year the BIA further restricted claims related to domestic violence, making it harder for those unable to leave abusive domestic relationships to secure asylum. In addition, individuals targeted by gang members generally no longer have a claim to asylum. The Board of Immigration Appeals, in a Kafkaesque series of definitional rulings, has all but eliminated a key category of asylum, that of being a member of a “particular social group” for asylum purposes.
We no longer have “immigration courts,” but now have “deportation courts” manned by “deportation judges.” That is indeed how the Trump administration has recruited judges to fill vacancies within the Executive Office for Immigration Review, or the Immigration Court as it is commonly known. The Immigration Court is housed under the Department of Justice and is not an independent Article III court of the judicial branch of government. This allows the current administration to shape its decisions and predetermined outcomes.
It has been reported in the press that as of this month the Trump administration has hired over 140 new immigration judges to accelerate deportation efforts, replacing more than 100 judges fired or pushed out in an unprecedented ongoing purge. Many of those fired were either Biden appointees or came from private practice instead of a law-enforcement background. Others were apparently fired for having approval rates for asylum or other relief considered too high to carry out “mass deportation.” These new appointees, termed “deportation judges” by the Department of Justice, are characterized by a lack of immigration law experience and by a focus on enforcement.
Recent statistics show asylum-grant rates plummeted to an all-time low of 7% as of February 2026. This is a sharp decline from the approximately 42% average approval rate for asylum cases during the Biden administration. Except in extreme cases, such as Somali women who have undergone ge***al mutilation, it’s near-impossible to win in immigration court. It’s now a system designed to carry out mass deportations. The Immigration Court even sends out a flyer with its decisions, warning immigrants to self-deport.
Is this what we want for a system of justice that makes life-or-death determinations for those who have fled persecution and torture in other countries? What does it say about us as a nation? Are we no longer the lamp beside the golden door?
While I’ll wipe away the tear I shed, I’ll show up for court again ready to fight for justice — and push for an independent immigration court free from the politics of the current administration.
Steven C. Thal, of Minnetonka, is an immigration attorney.
I shed a tear recently in immigration court, attorney Steven C. Thal writes. It wasn’t just for my mother-daughter clients facing deportation to Guatemala, but also for a system that has lost its moral compass.
