Image Credit: BRYAN R. SMITH / Contributor / Getty Images 
The Department of Justice (DoJ) has axed a woman who may have been America’s most lenient immigration judge.
Judge Vivienne Gordon-Uruakpa ruled 97% in favour of asylum claims during her time working immigration cases, a record for New York State.
She was quietly terminated without public notice back in September, and no longer appears on the website for the Manhattan district she used to serve.
Her departure appears to be part of a wider cull of the most lenient immigration judges, as part of the Trump admin’s reforms to immigration procedures.
Unlike other judges, immigration judges do not enjoy lifetime tenure. They can be hired and fired at will by the Attorney General.
At least 100 immigration judges have already been fired since President Trump returned to power in January 2025.
This week it was announced that dramatic changes could be made to the way asylum procedures work.
Infowars reported yesterday that a new rule aims to reduce the number of immigrants making fraudulent claims to obtain work authorizations; increase security checks on applicants; and cut processing times and backlog significantly.
If the rule, announced on Friday, is finalized, it will represent one of the most significant changes to the asylum and work-authorization system in decades.
Between 2021 and 2024, 17 million individuals applied for asylum in the US.
“We are proposing an overhaul of the asylum system to enforce the rules and reduce the backlog we inherited from the prior administration,” a DHS spokesperson said.
“Aliens are not entitled to work while we process their asylum applications.”
Employment authorizations would be paused until processing times reach 180 days or lower. On the basis of current wait times, it could take between 14 and 173 years for that threshold to be reached.
The proposal would also introduce more selective criteria for asylum-based work permits and prevent illegal immigrants from receiving new permits or extending existing ones.
An exception would be made for individuals who entered the US illegally under fear of persecution, torture or for another valid reason and notified authorities within 48 hours of entry.
“For too long, a fraudulent asylum claim has been an easy path to working in the United States, overwhelming our immigration system with meritless applications,” a DHS spokesperson said.
