Fall River native, Durfee grad, among 32 newly appointed immigration judges in California, New York, Texas, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, other states

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – The Executive Office for Immigration Review today announced the investiture of 15 immigration judges and 17 temporary immigration judges who will join immigration courts in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

EOIR Director Daren K. Margolin delivered remarks, and Chief Immigration Judge Teresa L. Riley administered the oath of office during the investiture, which was held today at the Department of Justice’s Great Hall in Washington, D.C.

“EOIR remains committed to reducing the immigration court backlog and unwinding the policies of the Biden Administration that included a de facto open border and amnesty,” said Director Margolin. “These new highly qualified immigration judges have sworn to decide the cases before them based on the law – that is, the laws passed by the United States Congress.”

After a competitive application process, the Attorney General appointed Julie Adams, Meghan C. Buhl-Madsen, Christopher Cooper, Andrew Galvao, Nathan M. Hansen, Anthony J. Hurst, Scott Ison, John F. Jakubowski, Lenka J. Koss, Brandon Lee Lettunich, Susanna Martinez, Joshua D. Rosen, Christopher J. Stephens, Matthew E. Sweet, and Michael Paul Taylor to their new positions as immigration judges, and Thomas C. Allmond, David G. Beyleryan, Benjamin Sky Brown, Lory G. Brown, Ryan J. Clark, Melissa L. Isaak, Matthew S. Johnson, Brandon Alexander “Alex” Kennedy, Matthew A. Kozyra, Eric Levinson, Peter T. McCary, Robert C. O’Neil, Joshua D. Quidley, Andrew J. Slitt, Dat T. Vo, Shayne M. Welling, and Rachel L. Wilson to their new positions as temporary immigration judges.

Andrew Galvao was appointed as an immigration judge in Harlingen, Texas Immigration Court in April 2026. Judge Galvao earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2013 from Bridgewater State University and a Juris Doctor from New England Law | Boston (formerly New England School of Law). From 2023 to 2026, he served as an assistant chief counsel with the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in the following locations: Houston (2025 2026); and Los Fresnos, Texas, at the Port Isabel Detention Center (2023-2025). In 2025, he served as a general attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, DHS, in Laredo, Texas. From 2022 to 2023, he was an associate attorney in private practice at Morrison Mahoney LLP in Fall River, Massachusetts. Judge Galvao is a member of the Massachusetts Bar and Rhode Island Bar. He is a Fall River native and graduated from BMC Durfee High School in 2007.

These new immigration judges are part of a plan to continue reducing case backlog. Since January 20, 2025, EOIR has reduced the backlog by over 380,000 cases after reaching a high of over 4 million cases during the Biden Administration.