Matthew O’Brien started his tenure as a judge in a Virginia immigration court at the end of the first Trump administration.
He was dismissed at the end of his two-year probationary period under the Biden administration. His dismissal — and that of several other judges whom President Trump brought in in his first term in office — sparked immediate GOP outrage and claims of political interference.
The Trump administration has now brought O’Brien back — and with a promotion to an assistant chief immigration judge.
The move has not been publicly announced. But it can be seen on the website of the Department of Justice, which oversees the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) that encompasses the immigration court system.
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