An immigration judge in California who was kicked to the curb by the Trump administration is now alleging in a lawsuit filed against the Justice Department that she was booted due to being a registered Democrat and because of her affiliations with immigrant-rights groups. The lawsuit, which is 14 pages in length, was filed by Kyra Lilien.
The lawsuit names the DOJ and acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche as defendants. Lilien says she was not retained past her probationary period because of several different factors, including the fact she’s a woman over 40, being fluent in Spanish, and has associations with the Hispanic community. Kevin Owen of Gilbert Employment Law, located in Maryland, is one of the attorneys representing Lilien.
Owen said that Lilien was fired by the administration because she didn’t fit their mold and that actions taken against her were impermissible and unlawful. The lawsuit also alleges that her firing violated Lilien’s civil and First Amendment rights. Lilien’s original appointment was to serve at the San Francisco Immigration Court in 2023, but was transferred to the Concord Immigration Court in February 2024.
She served almost two years, which is the standard probationary period immigration judges serve under Justice Department policy before their appointments become permanent roles, according to a report from Fox News. The lawsuit also includes the names of 30 other immigration judges from various places around the nation who were either booted from their positions or not converted after their probationary periods.
A total of 14 judges on the list come from the Concord and San Francisco immigration court systems. The lawsuit says that immigration judges who were not converted or who were fired close to the same time as Lilien were overwhelmingly female. The suit also claims that during her probationary period, Lilien met or surpassed performance standards.
“She received satisfactory assessments — the highest possible rating — in her probationary period reports for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. As a judge, Lilien denied 34% of asylum claims brought before her, according to data from TRAC Immigration,” Fox News reported. On July 11, 2025, Lilien received a notice that said her probationary period would not be converted to a permanent appointment.
The lawsuit also alleges that Sirce Owen, who was the acting EOIR director at the time, put out several controversial memoranda in the early part of 2025 that were hostile toward immigrant advocacy groups and certain hiring practices. Owen is accused of characterizing these groups as “extremist leftist organizations” that push illegal immigration to undermine immigration courts.
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Owen also produced another memo critical of the appointment practices under former President Joe Biden. Lilien’s lawsuit states that these memoranda prove that the administration is hostile toward hiring people with immigrants’ rights backgrounds, women, ethnic minorities, and others who might be considered to be “DEI” hires.