This morning Amy Goldstein and Dan Eggen of the Washington Post confirm what we concluded on May 31. "If you are well connected within the Republican party, have a law license and are a loyal Bushie, you can be an immigration judge."
According to the Post's detailed examination of the backgrounds of the 37 immigration judges approved by Alberto Gonzales or John Ashcroft.
At least one-third of the immigration judges appointed by the Justice Department since 2004 have had Republican connections or have been administration insiders, and half lacked experience in immigration law, Justice Department, immigration court and other records show.At the center of the controversial appointments are D. Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling. Both claim they didn't know they couldn't consider politics when selecting immigration judges, but according to the Post article, the justice department has confirmed that immigration judges are civil service employees who may not be chosen on the basis of politics. Senior Bush Department of Justice lawyers who didn't know the basic law directly related to their jobs? By this time we shouldn't be surprised.
Two newly appointed immigration judges were failed candidates for the U.S. Tax Court nominated by President Bush; one fudged his taxes and the other was deemed unqualified to be a tax judge by the nation's largest association of lawyers. Both were Republican loyalists.
Justice officials also gave immigration judgeships to a New Jersey election law specialist who represented GOP candidates, a former treasurer of the Louisiana Republican Party, a White House domestic policy adviser and a conservative crusader against pornography.
