An Ohio immigration judge, who lost her job just weeks into Donald Trump’s second term, is now suing the Justice Department. She accuses Attorney General Pam Bondi and the administration of adopting a legal theory that would allow the president to discriminate against federal workers without consequence.
Tania Nemer, a former immigration judge in Cleveland and a longtime attorney in Summit County, filed a federal lawsuit on Monday. She claims she was pushed out for reasons that anti-discrimination laws are meant to prevent, including her gender, her Lebanese heritage, and her previous run for office as a Democrat.
Nemer states she was appointed as an immigration judge in 2023 after a thorough background check. She was “abruptly fired” on February 5, 2025, just 15 days after Trump returned to the Oval Office. She alleges her supervisor interrupted her while she was on the bench to inform her that her employment was terminated immediately, without any explanation.
In her complaint, Nemer argues that the decision was not a careful evaluation of her performance, but rather an attempt to remove individuals the new administration disliked. The lawsuit cites an internal memo that justified her dismissal as a legal use of Article II powers, essentially arguing that immigration judges can be fired at will, regardless of civil rights protections.
Her lawyers contend that this view extends beyond just one judge in one courtroom. They express in a striking passage that the government’s position “reduces to the unbelievable legal theory that the President has a constitutional right to discriminate against federal workers in violation of the law. That is wrong. Period.”
NEW: Fired US Immigration judge Tania Nemer files federal civil suit against Atty Gen. Pam Bondi alleging sex discrimination
Suit: “According to the final agency decision, the President may now fire female federal workers like Ms. Nemer—because of their sex—and the law would…
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 1, 2025
The complaint warns that if the administration’s stance is accepted, it would undermine civil service protections for millions of federal employees. It could allow firings based on sex, race, national origin, or political affiliation, leaving the courts essentially powerless to intervene.
Before becoming an immigration judge, she was a prosecutor and magistrate in Akron and Summit County, as well as an immigration attorney supporting immigrant communities in northeast Ohio. She asserts she entered the EOIR system like any other new immigration judge, under a two-year probation period meant to remove judges who lack the necessary skills, professionalism, and temperament. In practice, she argues, this power was misused.
Her lawsuit alleges that by the time she was escorted out of the Cleveland Immigration Court, she had received top marks in her performance reviews and positive feedback from her superiors. Instead, she claims she was dismissed in what she describes as a politically motivated and discriminatory purge.
Over 100 immigration judges have been fired, forced out, or reassigned since Trump returned to office, even as the nation’s immigration courts struggle with millions of pending cases. Additionally, the administration has begun appointing new “deportation judges,” aimed at moving cases quickly through the system.
Bondi and the Justice Department have not commented on the specifics of Nemer’s case, instead referencing the president’s authority to manage executive branch officers. Nemer’s lawsuit is asking a federal court to assert that there are limits to what the White House can do, even under executive power.
For now, she is back in Summit County, working as a deputy chief in the prosecutor’s office while her case progresses through the system she once served as a judge.
