Abiel Garcia and Majed Dakak of Kesselman Brantly Stockinger are representing the union of immigration judges in the closely watched matter National Association of Immigration Judges v. FLRA. The case was recently profiled in both the Daily Journal and Law360 as the National Association of Immigration Judges has asked the D.C. Circuit to overturn the Federal Labor Relations Authority‘s decision revoking the group’s certification.
Under President Trump, the DOJ announced in 2020 it would no longer recognize the union because they felt the judges were managers and therefore exempt from collective bargaining. The Federal Labor Relations Authority upheld this move, leaving the union in limbo. The National Association of Immigration Judges is fighting to reinstate the certification of the union, and in a filing on June 8, Dakak and Garcia argued on behalf of the union, “The Authority’s actions throughout the entire administrative process violate the union and its immigration judge members’ due process rights with respect to its protected liberty interest in joining a labor union.”