He served two terms as president of the National Association of Immigration Judges. “Judges shouldn’t report to the nation’s chief prosecutor,” said Jeff Chase, another former immigration judge and member of the Round Table. Though an immigration judge’s role is to determine the facts of an immigrant’s case and rule as they see the law applies, Gossart’s colleagues agree that judges are often pressured out of being impartial arbiters. While serving as president of the National Association of Immigration Judges between 1984 and 1986, he and many other fellow judges began advocating for granting immigration court Article I status, like the U.S. Tax Court and Court of Veterans Appeals ,where judges are autonomous. A new bill would have provided universal representation for detained immigrants going before an immigration judge in Maryland.

Source: Wall Street Journal October 30, 2021 00:14 UTC