How the Trump Admin Left Long-Lasting Mark on US Immigration Courts The Trump administration gave lifetime positions to immigration judges more likely to deport immigrants than previous judges, encouraged deportation rulings during judgesâ training and appointed judges with no immigration experience. Former US attorney general Jeff Sessions speaks on issues related to visas and travel after then-US President Donald Trump signed a new travel ban order in Washington, US, March 6, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque World09/Mar/2021 On a rainy September day in 2018, Jeff Sessions, then US attorney general, addressed one of the largest classes of newly hired immigration judges in American history. “The vast majority of asylum claims are not valid,” he said during a swearing-in ceremony in Falls Church, Virginia, according to his prepared remarks. If judges do their job, he said, âthe number of illegal aliens and the number of baseless claims will fall”.