How many judges will be reassigned and when they will be sent is still under review, according to the officials, but the justice department has begun soliciting volunteers for deployment.

The targeted cities are New York; Los Angeles; Miami; New Orleans; San Francisco; Baltimore, Bloomington, Minnesota; El Paso, Texas; Harlingen, Texas; Imperial, California; Omaha, Nebraska and Phoenix, Arizona. They were chosen because they are cities which have high populations of undocumented immigrants with criminal charges, the officials said…

The Department of Homeland Security asked for the judges’ reshuffle, an unusual move given that immigration courts are administered by the justice department. A homeland security spokeswoman declined to comment on any plan that has not yet been finalized.