Craig Defoe, '07, Named Immigration Judge in Chicago
04/10/2019
Craig Defoe, '07, has been appointed as an immigration judge in the Chicago Immigration Court, part of the Executive Office for Immigration Review in the U.S. Department of Justice. He previously worked in the Office of the Associate Chief Counsel for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Chicago, serving as the agency's in-house counsel.
Defoe first encountered immigration law during his first job after graduation, where he worked in the Staff Attorney's Office in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. While there, he applied for the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Honors Program, and received an offer to work at the DOJ's Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL). It was during his time working at OIL in Washington, D.C., that he first considered a future career as an immigration judge. After six years at OIL, and gaining additional immigration experience since 2016 at CBP, the prospect of serving on the immigration bench became more realistic. When a notice for the immigration judge position he currently holds was posted in June 2018, he applied.
"I have tremendous respect for the work that all judges do, especially immigration judges," Defoe said. "Immigration judges have massive caseloads, and their decisions can have an immense impact on both the individuals in immigration court, and the United States. I wanted to serve as an immigration judge because I wanted to have such an impact. I also wanted this job because I believe in the mission: to fairly and objectively apply and uphold the immigration laws."
When in college, law school seemed like the logical next step for Defoe, who says he was always interested in a career in public service. He was a sophomore in college when the September 11 attacks happened, and the experience cemented that drive. He majored in political science at Washington University in Saint Louis, where he graduated magna cum laude, and developed a keen interest in the law. He is a summa cum laude graduate of IU McKinney, where he interned in the Indiana Governor's Office, made the Order of the Barristers during the law school's intramural moot court competition, and won the Papke Prize for best note published in the Indiana Law Review.
"I gravitated toward IU McKinney because of its proximity to state government," Defoe said, "and the opportunities available to students based on its location in Indianapolis."
Some members of Judge Defoe's family, including his wife, Dr. Maya Defoe, and mother, Barbara DeFoe, accompanied him to a swearing-in ceremony in March 2019. In the photo from left are Dr. Maya Defoe, Judge Craig Defoe, and Barbara Defoe.
