Washington, D.C. — Former Appellate Immigration Judge Kathleen Reilly has reached an agreement with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), resolving her challenge after the Trump-Vance administration unlawfully removed her from her position on the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) through a reduction in force (RIF). Democracy Forward and The Seltzer Law Firm represented Judge Reilly in the matter.
Judge Reilly, a career civil servant who served in EOIR for more than two decades, including as an attorney advisor, an immigration judge in Maryland, and later as an appellate immigration judge on the BIA, challenged the action before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) after the DOJ abruptly eliminated several appellate immigration judge positions in early 2025. Her filing alleged that the Department failed to follow the federal workforce protections that govern RIFs, safeguards designed to prevent exactly this kind of arbitrary removal from public service.
After months of litigation, this settlement agreement has resolved the matter, bringing this MSPB proceeding to a just resolution.
“I dedicated more than two decades to public service, specifically to adjudicating immigration cases fairly and impartially,” said Judge Reilly. “My removal from my position as an Appellate Immigration Judge was unexpected and devastating. Democracy Forward contributed invaluable expertise in my MSPB case, which was always about enforcing civil service protections and defending the independence of our justice system. I’m grateful they were able to help me reach this settlement agreement.”
“This outcome reinforces a fundamental principle: the government must follow the law when making decisions about the public servants who carry out its mission,” said Michael Martinez, Managing Counsel, Democracy Forward’s Civil Service Strong. “Federal civil service protections exist to ensure that decisions about who serves in government are made lawfully. This agreement reflects the power of litigation to hold the government accountable when those rules are not followed.”
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