A former US immigration judge filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Justice (DOJ), charging violations of her civil rights. Tania Nemer, who was released from her position as an immigration judge in February, contends that she was dismissed because of her sex, her ethnicity, and her political affiliation with the Democratic Party.

In the lawsuit, Nemer alleges that the government’s decision violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This US federal law prohibits employers from discriminating in employment based on five protected characteristics: Race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Furthermore, she alleges that the decision violates the First Amendment, as it was motivated by her affiliation with the Democratic Party.

Nemer, a dual citizen of Lebanon and the child of immigrant parents, was a probationary judge in the Executive Office for Immigration Review at the Cleveland Immigration Court. She was fired during her trial period, shortly after the second Trump administration took office. The government never explained her release, and the DOJ did not fire either of the two other probationary judges in the same court, both of whom were men and not of Middle Eastern background.

Two months after being dismissed, Nemer filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  She accused the DOJ of discriminating against her based on sex, sexual orientation, national origin, and sought redress.  However, in September, the EEOC dismissed Nemer’s complaint without an investigation, holding that Nemer failed to state a cognizable claim. In its findings, the EEOC wrote:

“The decision was a lawful exercise of the Attorney General’s authority under Article II of the Constitution, [which] allows the President and heads of departments…to remove inferior officers without cause, subject to only narrow exceptions that do not apply… No statute provides otherwise, and even if it did, the statute would run afoul of Article II.”

In response, Semers lawyer argued that the DOJ violated Nemer’s constitutional rights. He wrote:

[The DOJ’s] argument boils down to the remarkable legal theory that the President has a constitutional right to discriminate against federal workers, in violation of the law. That is wrong. Full stop… The government’s legal theory reflects an unprecedented assault by the current Administration against the civil service laws that protect millions of federal employees. If the government prevails in transforming the law, it will eviscerate the professional, non-partisan civil service as we know it.

Nemer’s is represented by the pro-bono law firm Washington Litigation Group, which was established in 2025 to legally challenge the second Trump administration. The US Department of Justice has fired at least 70 immigration judges this year,  meanwhile, it has a backlog of more than 3 million pending cases.