A department-wide response remains a concern
A Justice Department inspector general review found that the department is not well prepared to respond to doxing and related surveillance risks affecting government employees. The Executive Office for Immigration Review has started using a service intended to remove judges’ personal details from online sources, but the office has said these incidents call for a coordinated department response. The findings were reported by the Denver Gazette and The Washington Examiner.
The watchdog also warned that immigration judges appointed by the Justice Department are facing more doxing threats. Its findings, as described by those outlets, say people collected judges’ personal information from multiple sources and posted it in ways that could be used to intimidate them. The department’s definition covers identifying and other sensitive details, including home addresses, contact information, financial data, employers, and information about family members.
Immigration judges work within the DOJ’s Executive Office for Immigration Review and decide cases involving deportation and asylum. That makes threats against them a concern for officials handling consequential decisions, as well as for the department responsible for their protection.
Related threats have also targeted other federal personnel
The Washington Examiner reported that activists have tried to expose identifying information about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Oregon and California, with some attempts resulting in criminal charges. The administration has allowed ICE agents to wear masks over safety concerns; that policy has prompted court challenges by Democrat-led states. The Examiner also reported that the Treasury and State departments sanctioned an Italy-based group in August 2026 over digital platforms used to publish doxing material about ICE personnel.
The Examiner also reported that 10 to 15 FBI agents received threatening or harassing messages and visits to their homes after anti-ICE rioters took records containing officials’ personal information from FBI vehicles in January 2026. Two people have pleaded guilty to federal crimes connected to threats arising from the thefts, while a related defendant faces a federal complaint.
Immigration courts face separate staffing and caseload pressures
EOIR said in May 2026 that its pending caseload had fallen from about 4 million cases to fewer than 3.53 million after the agency completed more than 1.08 million cases. The department’s announcement is available from the Justice Department. Separately, the Acacia Center for Justice reported that the number of active permanent immigration judges declined from 735 at the end of fiscal year 2024 to 557 by December 2025. It also reported that the department authorized up to 600 military lawyers to serve as temporary immigration judges.
Threats against immigration judges sit within a wider pattern of reported judicial intimidation. Security Management, citing U.S. Marshals Service figures, reported 448 threats against federal judges through September of fiscal year 2026, compared with 564 in fiscal year 2025 and 509 in fiscal year 2024. Congress enacted the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act in December 2022 to restrict commercial data brokers from selling or trading personal identifying information about federal judges and their immediate families.
