The Department of Defense (DOD) — which is set to be rebranded as the Department of War — is seeking to identify up to 600 attorneys to serve as temporary immigration judges, The Washington Post reports.

Donald Trump has relied heavily on the military to implement his radical policies on immigration, which if implemented will see millions of people detained and deported.

Sean Parnell, chief spokesperson for the Pentagon, said: “These DOD attorneys will augment existing resources to help further combat a backlog of cases by presiding over immigration hearings.”

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has condemned the plans, warning they will see lawyers with no experience in immigration law making life-changing decisions for those caught up in Trump’s war on immigrants.

Ben Johnson, AILA’s executive director, said: “While DoD attorneys may be well suited to handle military matters, immigration law is entirely different and exceptionally complex. It makes as much as sense as having a cardiologist do a hip replacement.

“The work of immigration judges has been described as life and death decisions in traffic court conditions. Expecting fair decisions from judges unfamiliar with the law is absurd.

“This reckless move guts due process and further undermines the integrity of our immigration court system.

“Congress must act swiftly to use its oversight authority to defend the rule of law and protect the independence of the immigration judiciary.”