San Francisco immigration judges Shuting Chen and Jeremiah Johnson weren’t expecting to be fired when they showed up to work last Friday. But they weren’t exactly surprised when it happened, either, given the fate of many of their colleagues this year.

Even so, the termination emails hit like a punch to the gut, they said.

“When I saw the email, I had a very emotional reaction,” said Chen, who was appointed under the Biden administration in 2022. “I started to cry in my courtroom in front of the parties, which I tried always not to do, despite the traumatic nature of our jobs.”

Johnson, who’s served as an immigration judge since 2017, said the emails provided no explanation for the firings.

“We are all public servants,” Johnson said. “We spent years of our lives serving the United Stat

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