Underlying the tensions between immigration judges and the president is the Executive Office of Immigration Review. Established by the Attorney General in 1983, the EOIR oversees both the immigration court system and the Board of Immigration Appeals, which reviews appeals of immigration judges’ decisions. The entwined relationship between immigration court judges and DHS prosecutors became even more difficult to navigate in May last year. More appeals than everThe Board of Immigration Appeals sits above the country’s 73 immigration courts and reviews immigration court decisions that are challenged by immigrants or the government. In February 2025, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi reduced the immigration appeals board from 28 to 15 permanent members.