Immigration Advocates Raise Concerns on 5 Judicial Nominees

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 23 – Alliance for Justice, the Center for American Progress, and the National Immigration Law Center, joined by over 70 organizations, sent a letter today to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer raising serious concerns about five nominees for lifetime seats in the federal judiciary who have dangerous records on immigrants’ rights.

The nominees flagged in the letter include Andrew Oldham to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, J. Campbell Barker to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Michael Truncale to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Wendy Vitter to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and Mark Norris to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

As the letter states, these nominees “have records opposing critical legal protections for our immigrant communities. They are on the record making derogatory comments about immigrants, arguing against refugee resettlement, and leading the efforts to block protections for Dreamers and their families.” The organizations warn that “President Trump’s dangerous, hateful, and anti-immigrant rhetoric is also reflected in his selection of anti-immigrant judges . . . The records of these nominees indicate an antipathy toward immigrants and refugees and a disrespect for our constitutional order.”

The letter further notes that confirming these nominees to lifetime positions in the federal judiciary, especially in a time of unprecedented attacks and dangerous rhetoric against immigrant communities, “will further erode the independence and integrity of the branch of government that is most needed today and in the years ahead.”