HR 6497 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Temporary Immigration Judge Integrity Act
To codify in statute the authorization of the Attorney General to appoint experienced immigration law experts as temporary immigration judges to reduce the number of pending cases in immigration courts.
Summary
This Act authorizes the Attorney General to appoint temporary immigration judges for renewable terms of up to six months to help reduce pending cases in immigration courts. Eligible candidates include former immigration judges, members of the Board of Immigration Appeals, administrative law judges with immigration law experience, and Department of Justice attorneys with at least 10 years of immigration law experience. Temporary immigration judges have the same authority as permanent immigration judges to adjudicate cases. They must receive a minimum of eight weeks of initial training and ongoing training at least one day every two weeks, though former immigration judges and appellate judges are exempt if they return within two years. Temporary judges may serve for up to four consecutive six-month terms (two years total), and must wait at least three years before reappointment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52] (D-CA)
15 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Rep. Barragán, Nanette Diaz [D-CA-44] (D-CA)
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN)
- Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA)
- Rep. Clarke, Yvette D. [D-NY-9] (D-NY)
- Rep. Garcia, Sylvia R. [D-TX-29] (D-TX)
- Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10] (D-NY)
- Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4] (D-GA)
- Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8] (D-IL)
- Rep. Latimer, George [D-NY-16] (D-NY)
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA)
- Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6] (D-NY)
- Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-50] (D-CA)
- Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL)
- Rep. Velázquez, Nydia M. [D-NY-7] (D-NY)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Juan Vargas’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $21,100
- CAPITAL GROUP COMPANIES $6,600
- CAPITAL GROUP COMPANIES INC. $6,600
- THE DONNA BENDER COMPANY $6,600
- NATIONAL ENTERPRISES, INC. $5,300
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Juan Vargas → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Dec 5, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Dec 5, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 5, 2025
Mr. Vargas (for himself, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Norton, Mr. Soto, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Meng, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Peters, Ms. Chu, Mr. Lieu, Mr. Goldman of New York, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Carson, and Ms. Barragan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To codify in statute the authorization of the Attorney General to appoint experienced immigration law experts as temporary immigration judges to reduce the number of pending cases in immigration courts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Temporary Immigration Judge Integrity Act”.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) the purpose of temporary immigration judges is not to replace permanent immigration judges or to serve in lieu of appointing permanent immigration judges; and
(2) due to the complex nature and high-stakes consequences of the adjudication of immigration cases, immigration judges must have extensive knowledge and application of United States immigration laws.
SEC. 3. TEMPORARY IMMIGRATION JUDGES.
Section 240(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(1)) is amended—
(1) by striking “The immigration judge shall administer” and inserting the following:
“(A) In general.—The immigration judge shall administer”; and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (A), as redesignated, the following:
“(B) Temporary immigration judges.—
“(i) Appointment.—The Attorney General is authorized to appoint, as temporary immigration judges for a renewable term not to exceed 6 months—
“(I) former members of the Board of Immigration Appeals or appellate immigration judges;
“(II) former immigration judges;
“(III) administrative law judges who are employed within, or have retired from, the Executive Office for Immigration Review;
“(IV) administrative law judges at another Federal agency who have at least ten years of experience, after being admitted to a State bar, in the field of immigration law, subject to the written consent of the head of such agency; and
“(V) attorneys at the Department of Justice who have at least 10 years of legal experience, after being admitted to a State bar, in the field of immigration law.
“(ii) Scope of authority.—Subject to clause (iii), each temporary immigration judge appointed pursuant to clause (i) shall have the same authority as an immigration judge to adjudicate assigned cases and administer immigration court matters, in accordance with the immigration laws.
“(iii) Oversight; training.—
“(I) In general.—The Attorney General, in collaboration with the Chief Immigration Judge and Regional Chief Immigration Judges, shall establish management and training procedures that— “(aa) assign caseloads to, and oversee the performance of, temporary immigration judges; “(bb) evaluate the work product produced by such judges; and
“(cc) except as provided in subclause (II), ensure that temporary immigration judges receive—
“(AA) a minimum of 8 weeks of initial training; and
“(BB) ongoing training for at least 1 day during every 2 weeks of their temporary service.
“(II) Exemption.—Individuals described in subclause (I) or (II) of clause (i) shall be exempted from the training described in subclause (I)(cc) if their service as a temporary immigration judge begins not later than 2 years after the last day of their service as an immigration judge, an immigration appellate judge, or a member of the Board of Immigration Appeals.
“(iv) Length of service.—
“(I) In general.—Temporary immigration judges may serve for up to 4 consecutive 6-month terms.
“(II) Additional service.— Temporary immigration judges who have reached the 2-year service limit described in subclause (I) shall not be reappointed to this temporary position until at least 3 years after the conclusion of their temporary service.”. <all>
Comments