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DeSantis says Florida judge advocates could serve as immigration judges; DOJ, DHS coordination required
Summary
Governor DeSantis said Florida has proposed training National Guard judge advocates to sit as immigration adjudicators to speed interior enforcement, but said federal coordination and DOJ/DHS approvals remain necessary.
Governor Ron DeSantis reiterated a proposal to use judge advocates from the Florida National Guard to help adjudicate immigration cases and process removal determinations more quickly, saying the idea required federal agency cooperation and tailored training.
"We have judge advocates in our national guard. They can be trained as immigration judges, and they can help process this along," DeSantis said after a reporter asked about the plan. He added that the proposal had required "a lot of bureaucratic back and forth with the Department of Justice and some other things," and that the federal government must provide a pathway for such assignments.
DeSantis described immigration-adjudication roles as part of the executive branch and said immigration judges are not Article III federal judges: "They're executive branch employees," he said. He also said initial training for judge advocates was streamlined and that training would take "weeks and not months," though he did not provide a precise schedule.
The governor framed the proposal as intended to reduce administrative backlog: "If you have somebody that's here illegally... there's still a process involved. So how do you do that?" he asked, arguing the state should help speed determinations in coordination with federal agencies.
DeSantis said the state also continues other interior- and border-enforcement steps, including past operations the state has run that he said were eligible for federal reimbursement through the Department of Homeland Security. He acknowledged litigation often follows enforcement measures and described the state's recent legal record as mixed at the district-court level but stronger on appeal.
No new federal authorizations or formal transfers of adjudicatory authority were announced at the event. DeSantis said Florida would be willing to supply trained personnel if DOJ, DHS or relevant federal officials establish an approved pathway.
