John Roberts Halts Court Ruling in Immigration Judges' Speech Limits Case

Source: Newsweek

Published Dec 05, 2025 at 03:45 PM EST updated Dec 05, 2025 at 05:31 PM EST


The Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts put a temporary hold on a lower circuit court decision in a case related to a policy requiring immigration judges to obtain permission before making any “official” speeches.

Why It Matters

The case was brought to the Supreme Court for an emergency stay by U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer on behalf of Daren Margolin, the acting director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), who is in a legal battle with the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) over a policy requiring immigration judges to receive approval before speaking publicly about immigration matters. NAIJ argues that the policy infringes on First Amendment rights.

The Supreme Court has issued several emergency stays related to major immigration policies this past year. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices appointed by Trump in his first term. Roberts is the court’s circuit justice for the Fourth Circuit and handles emergency requests from that region.

What To Know

In Roberts' short Friday order, he stayed the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, effectively freezing it, which was set to take effect on December 10. It came just hours after Sauer brought the request to the Court. The Fourth Circuit’s June ruling revived the immigration judges’ lawsuit and sent it back to the federal trial court for fact-finding regarding whether civil service laws were functioning properly.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/john-roberts-court-immigration-judges-speech-halt-11165845