JUSTICE INTERRUPTED: An Immigration Judge’s view of the Courts and the Path to Reform
August 12 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm EDT
IMC Immigration Justice Action Team Virtual Forum
Wed, Aug 12, 2026, 7 pm – 8:30 pm EST, via Zoom
Join the IMC Immigration Justice Action Team (IJAT) for our monthly Virtual Public Forum. Every 2nd Wednesday of the month, from 7 pm – 8:30 pm EST, IJAT hosts a Virtual Public Forum. Our monthly forums highlight organizations, campaigns, and practical actions that help build a more just and welcoming Massachusetts. We hope you’ll join us for this important conversation.
Join us to hear an insider’s account of how political interference is reshaping the immigration courts—and what reforms are needed to restore judicial independence and due process.
Judge George D. Pappas is an immigration attorney (Boston, MA & Asheville, NC), former immigration judge, and son of Greek immigrants.
Before joining the bench, Judge Pappas spent approximately 20 years representing people in asylum, removal, citizenship, and other immigration matters, while also providing pro bono legal assistance through refugee- and immigrant-serving organizations. He served in the Boston and Chelmsford Immigration Courts from 2023 until his termination in July 2025. Pappas has since sued the Department of Justice, alleging that his termination was motivated by unlawful discrimination and by his longstanding associations with immigrant-rights organizations—claims the government has not yet had adjudicated against it.
Drawing on his experience as both an advocate and a judge, Pappas has become an outspoken critic of the immigration court system. He argues that because immigration courts are housed within the Department of Justice rather than an independent judiciary, judges remain vulnerable to political pressure, dismissal, and directives that can undermine meaningful hearings and due-process protections. He has warned that the courts are increasingly being treated as instruments of deportation policy rather than independent forums for deciding individual cases, and he advocates removing them from executive-branch control to create a genuinely independent immigration judiciary.
Immigration Justice Action Team (IJAT), Indivisible Mass Coalition
Indivisible Mass Coalition (IMC) is a statewide organization of volunteers, is to provide resources, support and services to the diverse Indivisible members and groups to strengthen constituent power in Massachusetts and improve democracy. Find more about what Indivisible Mass Coalition is doing by visiting indivisible-ma.org.
The IMC Immigration Justice Action Team serves as a statewide coordination and amplification hub within Indivisible Mass Coalition (IMC), supporting high-impact immigrant justice campaigns and actions that cross local group and coalition lines. We bring together Indivisible groups, immigration justice organizations, and the IMC Racial Justice Action Team to support and amplify efforts that protect our immigrant neighbors and communities.
Questions?
Contact us at immigration-justice-action-team@indivisible-ma.org.
A core principle behind all Indivisible and coalition partner events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.
