Western State alumnus Robert E. Coughlon has been named as an Immigration Judge for the Los Angeles Immigration Court.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announced the investiture of Coughlon and fellow judge Arlene E. Dorfman, who will join the immigration judge corps in Los Angeles, Calif.
“We are pleased to welcome Immigration Judges Coughlon and Dorfman to our already strong immigration judge corps,” said Chief Immigration Judge Brian M. O’Leary. “Their arrival will help mitigate the pending caseload in Los Angeles, the Nation’s second busiest immigration court.”
Judge Coughlon received an associate of arts degree in 1974 from College of the Desert, Palm Desert, Calif. He then received a bachelor of law degree in 1977 and a juris doctorate in 1978, both from Western State.
From August 2010 through July 2011, Judge Coughlon served as a special assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona in Phoenix. Prior to that, from March 2010 through July 2010, he was an assistant chief counsel for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in Phoenix. From November 2007 to March 2010, he served as assistant chief counsel for ICE in El Centro, Calif. From November 2006 to November 2007, Judge Coughlon was a transportation security officer for the DHS, Transportation Security Administration, in Phoenix. During this time, from September 2007 to October 2007, he was program director, immigration services, at Friendly House, a non-profit community service organization in Phoenix. From 1981 to 2006, Judge Coughlon was in private practice in Moorpark, Calif. From 1974 to 1981, he worked for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) as an immigration examiner and supervisory immigration examiner in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. From 1972 to 1974, Judge Coughlon was an agent for the former INS, U.S. Border Patrol, in Indio, Calif. From 1970 to 1972, he served as an air traffic control specialist for the Federal Aviation Administration in Farmington, Minn. From 1967 to 1970, he was an agent for the U.S. Border Patrol in Calexico, Calif. From 1962 to 1966, he was an air traffic control and warning operator for the U.S. Air Force. Judge Coughlon is a member of the State Bar of California.
About Western State
Western State (www.wsulaw.edu) was founded in 1966 and is the oldest law school in Orange County with more than 11,000 alumni. Located in the heart of Southern California, Western State University offers both full- and part-time programs, taught by a dedicated and highly motivated faculty who serve as scholars and mentors both inside and outside of the classroom. See wsuprograms.info for program duration, tuition, fees, and other costs, median debt, federal salary data, alumni success, and other important info.