Former immigration judge Tania Nemer sues Trump admin over alleged discriminatory firing

WASHINGTON, DC: Former immigration judge Tania Nemer filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on Monday, December 2.

In her lawsuit, she alleged that she was “wrongfully” fired for being a “woman, a dual citizen,” and a “child of immigrant parents.”

Tania Nemer argues Trump admin violated her civil rights

In her federal lawsuit filed in Washington, Tania Nemer revealed that she was fired on February 5, soon after Donald Trump took office for his second term.

She alleged that she was fired because of her gender, and because she was a “dual citizen of Lebanon,” a child of immigrant parents, and had previously run unsuccessfully for office as a Democrat. 

She said that her termination violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and her First Amendment rights

The lawsuit also stated that the Justice Department’s Equal Employment Opportunity office had previously dismissed a complaint she had filed, alleging discrimination, as they termed her termination a “lawful exercise.”

Her attorneys argued that Title VII was "unquestionably constitutional" and that the government could not discriminate against its employees. Nathaniel Zelinsky and James Eisenmann further said that they were looking forward to pursuing Tania’s case in court.

Tania also believed that she should be reinstated by the Justice Department. 

Supervisors said they had no rationale for abrupt termination

Her lawsuit detailed her time as an immigration judge, noting that she started working with the DOJ’s executive office for immigration review in 2023. However, she was fired despite receiving the highest possible performance rating.

“Nemer was abruptly fired while in her trial period,” the lawsuit read.

It further stated that the “lightning-fast, precipitous timing” of the Trump administration was not based on Nemer’s qualifications but was a part of a “rushed attempt” to target “disfavored civil servants.”

Her lawyers also claimed that her supervisor and the Acting Chief Immigration Judge of the United States stated that they were unaware of why she was being fired, and the government had not given her “any coherent and legitimate nondiscriminatory rationale” for her dismissal.

Donald Trump's government fired eight immigration judges in Manhattan despite the recent lawsuit. As per the National Association of Immigration Judges, the judges worked out of 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan.