Fired Immigration Judge Sues DOJ, Alleging Retaliation And White House Pressure

Former immigration judge Chloe Dillon filed a whistleblower retaliation complaint against the Justice Department on Thursday, September 10, 2026, in federal court in the Northern District of California.^[1]

Dillon alleges she was fired last spring two days after reporting that ICE agents unlawfully detained an unaccompanied minor who had just been in her San Francisco courtroom.^[1] She says her supervising assistant chief immigration judge told her in April 2026 that "the White House was watching" when she questioned a directive to automatically grant all ICE venue-transfer requests.^[1] The complaint also challenges the Trump administration's position that immigration judges, as executive-branch "inferior officers," can be removed at will, an issue already on appeal at the Merit Systems Protection Board.^[1] The White House and Justice Department did not respond to MS NOW's requests for comment on Dillon's filing.^[1]

In April 2026, Dillon says she questioned the new directive to grant ICE venue-transfer requests automatically, and she told supervisors about the minor's detention.^[1] She says she was fired within two days after that report.^[1]

Dillon's filing asks a federal judge to consider both the retaliation claim and the question of whether immigration judges can be removed at will.^[1]

1. MS NOW