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The Guardian
May 9, 2026

‘Everyone has a breaking point’: the immigration judges at the sharp end of Trump’s deportation drive
By Lok Darjee


Just months after Koelsch’s resignation, on 21 November 2025, Jeremiah Johnson, 52, a judge at the San Francisco immigration court, was having what he described as a normal day. Johnson had been on the bench since 2017, appointed by then-attorney general Jeff Sessions during the first Trump administration (Koelsch was also a Sessions appointee). According to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, he granted asylum in a large share of his cases, a rate significantly higher than the national average.


Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Syracuse University
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