No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6497 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6497
To codify in statute the authorization of the Attorney General to
appoint experienced immigration law experts as temporary immigration
judges to reduce the number of pending cases in immigration courts.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 5, 2025
Mr. Vargas (for himself, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Norton, Mr. Soto, Ms.
Clarke of New York, Ms. Meng, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Peters, Ms. Chu,
Mr. Lieu, Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Carson, and
Ms. Barragan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To codify in statute the authorization of the Attorney General to
appoint experienced immigration law experts as temporary immigration
judges to reduce the number of pending cases in immigration courts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Temporary Immigration Judge
Integrity Act''.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the purpose of temporary immigration judges is not to
replace permanent immigration judges or to serve in lieu of
appointing permanent immigration judges; and
(2) due to the complex nature and high-stakes consequences
of the adjudication of immigration cases, immigration judges
must have extensive knowledge and application of United States
immigration laws.
SEC. 3. TEMPORARY IMMIGRATION JUDGES.
Section 240(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1229a(b)(1)) is amended--
(1) by striking ``The immigration judge shall administer''
and inserting the following:
``(A) In general.--The immigration judge shall
administer''; and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (A), as redesignated,
the following:
``(B) Temporary immigration judges.--
``(i) Appointment.--The Attorney General is
authorized to appoint, as temporary immigration
judges for a renewable term not to exceed 6
months--
``(I) former members of the Board
of Immigration Appeals or appellate
immigration judges;
``(II) former immigration judges;
``(III) administrative law judges
who are employed within, or have
retired from, the Executive Office for
Immigration Review;
``(IV) administrative law judges at
another Federal agency who have at
least ten years of experience, after
being admitted to a State bar, in the
field of immigration law, subject to
the written consent of the head of such
agency; and
``(V) attorneys at the Department
of Justice who have at least 10 years
of legal experience, after being
admitted to a State bar, in the field
of immigration law.
``(ii) Scope of authority.--Subject to
clause (iii), each temporary immigration judge
appointed pursuant to clause (i) shall have the
same authority as an immigration judge to
adjudicate assigned cases and administer
immigration court matters, in accordance with
the immigration laws.
``(iii) Oversight; training.--
``(I) In general.--The Attorney
General, in collaboration with the
Chief Immigration Judge and Regional
Chief Immigration Judges, shall
establish management and training
procedures that--
``(aa) assign caseloads to,
and oversee the performance of,
temporary immigration judges;
``(bb) evaluate the work
product produced by such
judges; and
``(cc) except as provided
in subclause (II), ensure that
temporary immigration judges
receive--
``(AA) a minimum of
8 weeks of initial
training; and
``(BB) ongoing
training for at least 1
day during every 2
weeks of their
temporary service.
``(II) Exemption.--Individuals
described in subclause (I) or (II) of
clause (i) shall be exempted from the
training described in subclause (I)(cc)
if their service as a temporary
immigration judge begins not later than
2 years after the last day of their
service as an immigration judge, an
immigration appellate judge, or a
member of the Board of Immigration
Appeals.
``(iv) Length of service.--
``(I) In general.--Temporary
immigration judges may serve for up to
4 consecutive 6-month terms.
``(II) Additional service.--
Temporary immigration judges who have
reached the 2-year service limit
described in subclause (I) shall not be
reappointed to this temporary position
until at least 3 years after the
conclusion of their temporary
service.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line