The Trump administration fired two immigration judges, Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, who had earlier this year blocked the deportations of international students involved in pro-Palestinian activism.

Patel had found no grounds to deport Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University detained by ICE agents on a street in Somerville, while Froes had blocked the deportation of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student and West Bank-born green card holder.

The two dismissals are part of a broader wave in which at least 113 immigration judges have been fired by the Trump administration since January 2025, with roughly another 100 quitting or retiring in the same period.

The administration has simultaneously hired new judges seen as more aligned with its immigration enforcement agenda. The union representing the judges said the dismissals were carried out without due process, cause, or explanation, raising concerns about the erosion of judicial independence.