"I Was Once That Child": Fired Immigration Judge Carmen María Rey on Witnessing Cruelty in Her Court

Former immigration judge Carmen María Rey joins Juan Manuel Benítez to discuss her August 2025 termination by the Trump administration, what she witnessed in New York's immigration courts during the first months of Trump's second term, and why she still has hope for America despite having decided to leave the country. Rey, who spent her career as an immigration lawyer and now teaches at Pace University, was one of hundreds of immigration judges terminated without explanation. She had previously been targeted by 30 Republican Congress members, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, for tweets criticizing ICE during Trump's first term.In this conversation, Rey describes scenes of "cruelty that will remain with me until the day that I die"—ICE agents detaining people in courthouse hallways, children screaming as fathers were taken away, families too afraid to use the bathroom. She reflects on the bitter irony of being fired from the very building where she once stood as an undocumented child, waiting in line with her mother for an employment authorization stamp.Rey discusses the erosion of judicial independence, the "unitary executive theory" being used to justify mass federal employee firings, and why she sees parallels between this moment and the Civil War era. Host: Juan Manuel BenítezGuest: Carmen María ReyBooks mentioned in this episode:Empire of Borders by Todd Miller - Works by historian Heather Cox Richardson (Boston College) Topics discussed:Immigration court proceedings and ICE enforcement tacticsThe firing of immigration judges and challenges to judicial independenceThe "unitary executive theory" and federal employment protectionsAsylum law and grant rates across different courtsHistorical parallels between current era and the Civil War periodThe experience of being undocumented in 1980s and 1990s AmericaJuan Manuel Benítez Wants to Know is produced at Columbia Journalism School. Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Read more at Substack.