Texas immigration judge accused of calling Hispanic immigrants “wetbacks”

On Monday, August 22, 2022, The Daily Beast reported that Texas Judge Edgar Allen Amos was reported last week to the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct for allegedly complaining to lawyers about “wetbacks.”

According to The Daily Beast:

“In the complaint, defense lawyer Emily Miller recalls crossing paths with the judge on July 26 at the McCulloch County Courthouse, where Amos stations himself at a computer to conduct virtual court hearings on Zoom while arrestees remain 150 miles south at a courthouse near the border.

“He mentioned he did not think people understood how hard ‘we had it in these hearings. As the hearings are technologically, logistically, and emotionally difficult, I agreed,” Miller wrote in the complaint. “He went on to say that these people (meaning the defendants) are not ‘your regular wetbacks. They have phones and clothes and all kinds of other things.’”

Miller also noted that Judge Amos’ comment “raises substantial questions about his impartiality and the quality of justice being served in his court.”

The Daily Beast reported that:

“Amos did not respond to questions sent Friday to the court clerk in Kinney County, where he is currently situated as a “visiting judge” who dials in to preside on cases stemming from the state’s “Operation Lone Star.”

The report continues:

“Judge Edgar Allen Amos now faces a potential ethics probe, which if substantiated, would call into question every ruling he’s made in local Texas courts. Amos routinely adjudicates cases involving arrests of Spanish-speaking people who fled Mexico and Central America, illegally crossing the U.S. border to find refuge here.’

Jacqueline R. Habersham, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct’s executive director, said she could not comment on the complaint “due to the agency’s strict statutory confidentiality rules,” but added that the commission would make any disciplinary action taken against the judge public.

The Daily Beast also reported that:

“The Immigrant Legal Resource Center called on the commission to remove Judge Amos from the bench “until his comments and his overall judicial conduct are thoroughly investigated.”

Amos was elected a Concho County judge in 1994 and remained until his recent retirement. Court clerks claim that Amos recently resumed his employment to preside over Operation Lone Star cases in Kinney County, where his supervising judge has been publicly making offensive remarks against immigrants.

Source: The Daily Beast