Dillon told KQED she learned of her firing through a three-sentence email on Aug. 22. She said she discovered it after returning to her office from a years-long asylum hearing, where she had already indicated her ruling and hoped to issue a decision that day, KQED noted further.

Dillon said she spent 90 minutes gathering her belongings, returning federal property, and handing off her 6,000-case docket without knowing who would take it over.

Her dismissal, she added, was not entirely a surprise. Under Trump, federal employees have been treated as at-will, and immigration courts have seen mass firings — particularly of judges appointed during the Biden administration, those with backgrounds in immigrant advocacy, or those with high asylum approval rates