Former immigration judge files lawsuit accusing Trump administration of bias in her firing

In her lawsuit, Tania Nemer said she was fired because she is a woman, a dual citizen of Lebanon who is the child of immigrant parents, and had earlier unsuccessfully for local office as a Democrat.

A former immigration judge filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming she was wrongfully fired by President Donald Trump’s administration, which she says relied on an “unjust” belief that the president can legally discriminate against federal workers based on their sex, national origin and political affiliation.

In her lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., Tania Nemer said the U.S. Department of Justice fired her on February 5 shortly after the beginning of Trump’s second term in office because she is a woman, a dual citizen of Lebanon who is the child of immigrant parents, and had earlier in her career run unsuccessfully for local office as a Democrat.

She argues her firing violated the landmark Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and her right to engage in political activity under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. According to her lawsuit, the Justice Department’s Equal Employment Opportunity office had dismissed a discrimination complaint she filed, saying the termination was a “lawful exercise” of the authority the president and attorney general possess under Article II of the Constitution to remove inferior officers.

The head of the Justice Department’s equal employment opportunity office, in a September 25 decision, had said that no statute, including Title VII, provides immigration judges with protection from at-will removal by Trump. Nemer argues that is wrong and that a federal judge should force the Justice Department to reinstate her.

“Title VII is unquestionably constitutional,” her attorneys, Nathaniel Zelinsky and James Eisenmann, said in a joint statement. “The government cannot discriminate against its employees. Full stop. We look forward to pursuing Tania’s case in court.”