By Nate Raymond

BOSTON, May 18 (Reuters) - A former immigration judge in Massachusetts has filed a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump's administration of unlawfully firing him in part because of his past advocacy on behalf of people from Latin America when he had been an immigration attorney.

George Pappas filed the lawsuit against the U.S. Justice Department on May 14 in Boston federal court, marking at least the fourth such case by one of the more than 110 immigration judges fired after Trump took office last year.

Pappas, who since 2023 had served as an immigration judge in Boston and Chelmsford, Massachusetts, said that despite an excellent performance he was terminated in July 2025 following a two-year probationary period.

He alleged that he was targeted for termination after the Justice Department, which oversees the immigration court system, issued a series of memos that demonstrated its hostility to using diverse immigration judges and those whose legal backgrounds included past representation of immigrants.

He pointed to memos that promised to “penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences,” and that said people of "certain backgrounds" had been given preferential treatment during Democratic President Joe Biden's administration.

The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The lawsuit contends that Pappas was fired in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because he holds Greek citizenship and because he had a close association with people who were Hispanic and Latin American during his two decades representing non-citizens as an immigration attorney.

Pappas said that before becoming an immigration judge, he had provided pro bono legal services to groups including the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, the PAIR Project and the Latin American Coalition.

Pappas said that several other immigration judges who have been fired by the Trump administration similarly had backgrounds advocating for immigrants before being hired by the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review.

The lawsuit also alleges that the Justice Department discriminated against Pappas, 57, based on his age. It said firing him based on his past association with immigrants’ rights organizations infringed his rights to political association under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.

Pappas is seeking to be reinstated to his job and to be awarded back pay, lost benefits and other compensatory damages.

The Trump administration has fired at least 113 immigration judges and a similar number have taken buyouts, resigned or retired out of a total of approximately 700 judges, according to the National Association of Immigration Judges.

At the same time, the Justice Department has hired dozens of new judges, some on a temporary basis and most with military or enforcement backgrounds. The agency now refers to the officials as "deportation judges."

The case is Pappas v. Blanche, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No. 26-cv-12194.

For Pappas: Geoffrey Simpson of Gilbert Employment Law and Nathaniel Zelinsky of Washington Litigation Group

For DOJ: Not yet available

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