Nation’s immigration judges file 2 complaints about labor practices

WASHINGTON — The nation’s immigration judges are alleging unfair labor practices after the Justice Department included a blog post from an anti-immigration website in a morning briefing and challenged the judges’ right to be represented by a labor union.

The union representing the country’s more than 400 immigration judges filed a pair of complaints Friday with the Federal Labor Relations Authority. The complaints will trigger an investigation, which the judges want.

The filings follow a move by the Justice Department to ask the Authority whether the union should be allowed to exist. The Justice Department argued the judges are management officials, which the judges dispute, noting they don’t oversee anyone.

Immigration judges are employees of the Justice Department.

Union president Judge Ashley Tabaddor says the backlog of immigration cases has exceeded 1 million cases.