George Pappas, an experienced immigration lawyer and a PhD in philosophy to boot, accepted an appointment to a judgeship in a federal Immigration Court in Massachusetts. A resident of North Carolina, he and his wife began a long-distance relationship so he could take the post. Now he and a raft of his colleagues in immigration courts across the country have been summarily dismissed.
Pappas told the Lowell Sun, “Many of us uprooted from far away places to do this job. Some people bought a house, integrated their family, and then they got fired. They had a mortgage to pay, they have family here, and this has happened across the country. Many of us have relocated to become judges from different places and we’re just thrust out onto the street.”
Pappas will land on his feet. He’ll move back home and resume his private practice. But the federal court in which he served, located in my district, in Chelmsford, may not be as resilient. Once home to 18 judges, by the end of August it will be down to 6. The backlog of unresolved cases is, predictably, exploding.
Courtesy of his long reach from Washington, immigration czar Stephen Miller is disappearing due process. Who knew you could kidnap the Constitution? Thank you, Lorena Betts of Chelmsford Connected, for setting up the conversation with Judge Pappas before he returns to North Carolina and we lose him.
