Trump-Appointed Immigration Judges Have Become His Robed Enforcers
The system is becoming increasingly stacked against asylum-seekers
Charlotte, North Carolina–based immigration judge V. Stuart Couch was known for his tough demeanor in court. A former Marine pilot and a prosecutor in Guantánamo, he developed a reputation for routinely denying asylum to applicants after he became an immigration judge in 2010. Between 2014 and 2019, Couch denied 93.2% of asylum claims — a much higher rate than the average national denial rate of 63.1%. His hardline approach even led him to buck a decision by a higher court, the Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), in 2018. That court ruled that Couch had been “clearly erroneous” in one of his decisions to refuse asylum and sent the case back to him to grant the claim. Instead, Couch refused to issue a new ruling and, against protocol, tried to send it back again to the BIA. Deborah Anker, director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic and one of the leading legal experts in asylum policy, called Couch’s move “completely extraordinary.”
That wasn’t the only moment Couch drew attention. He also has been charged with copying and pasting negative asylum decisions, particularly in cases involving women fleeing domestic violence. Three years ago, he was the subject of a…
