DOJ EOIR FOIA · FY2015–2025 · 77 courts
Immigration court outcomes, judge by judge
The national asylum grant rate was 48.6% in FY2025, down 7.8 points from FY2024. According to the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) FOIA release (vintage 2026-08), these are asylum grant rates, court backlogs, and case outcomes across 1,696 judges. Plain numbers. Not legal advice.
Important: This is statistical data from government FOIA records only. Grant/denial rates vary significantly by court, judge, and case specifics. Always consult a licensed immigration attorney for advice about your specific situation.
Grant rate is not wait
According to the DOJ EOIR FOIA extract (courts with more than 500 merits decisions), Sacramento is #1 of 72 by asylum grant rate (76.2%) at wait rank 39, a different court from Los Angeles - West, which is #1 of 72 by average wait (46.2 months) at grant rank 27.
- 76.2%
- Sacramento grant (#1 of 72)
- #39
- Sacramento wait rank
- 46.2 months
- Los Angeles - West wait (#1 of 72)
- #27
- Los Angeles - West grant rank
According to the DOJ EOIR FOIA extract (vintage 2026-08). Both ranks use courts with more than 500 merits decisions. Not a quality score and not legal advice.
National asylum merits outcome mix
770,780merits decisions FY2015–2025
Grant rate vs. wait time, by court
Each dot is one of the 40 largest immigration courts by merits decisions. The crosshair splits them at the MEDIAN grant rate (47.5%) and the median average wait (31.2 months) across this set, not the simple min/max midpoint, so each quadrant holds a real share of the data.
How to read this
- Fast & favorable
- Favorable but slow
- Fast but tough
- Slow & tough
Position = grant rate (right is higher) and average wait (up is longer). Color = which of the four zones the court falls in relative to the median split. The largest court by volume is New York - Federal Plaza.
▲ Highest Grant Rate Courts
▼ Lowest Grant Rate Courts
● Longest Backlog Courts
What you can look up
Every figure traces to DOJ EOIR FOIA case records. Pick a surface and dig in.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PlainImmigration?
PlainImmigration displays US immigration court case outcome statistics from DOJ EOIR FOIA data. It shows judge-level grant and denial rates, court backlogs, and nationality-based outcomes so you can understand variance in the immigration court system.
Where does this data come from?
All data comes from the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) case data released via FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). This is the same underlying data used by academic researchers and advocacy organizations to study immigration court outcomes.
Why do grant rates vary so much between judges?
Research shows significant "lottery effects" in immigration courts: outcomes can vary dramatically based on which judge is randomly assigned to a case. Factors include the types of cases a judge handles, the nationalities of applicants, and legal representation rates, not adjudicator philosophy alone. These are descriptive statistics, not predictions for any individual case.
Is this legal advice?
No. PlainImmigration provides statistical data only and is not legal advice. Every case is different. Always consult a licensed immigration attorney for advice about your specific situation.
Immigration Court Guides
Plain-language guides to understanding immigration court data, outcomes, and systemic patterns.
Guides & Analysis
Editorial research and plain-language explainers from our team. Every guide is written to help you read the underlying public data correctly.
Research
Original analysis from our editorial process, every statistic derived from our own database. See all research.
EOIR asylum Key Findings
Live citable findings from the court, state, nationality, and yearly joins, plus a downloadable court CSV.
ResearchState-Level Variations in US Immigration Grant Rates
How grant rates differ between immigration courts across US states, what drives the variance, and how to read the underlying EOIR records.
MethodologyHow we compute these numbers
Definitions, aggregations, sources, and refresh cadence used across PlainImmigration.
About this data
How PlainImmigration works, and why you can trust these numbers
What this site is
PlainImmigration presents US immigration court case outcome statistics, judge-level grant and denial rates, court backlogs, and nationality-based outcomes, drawn from official federal case records. It provides statistical data only and is not legal advice.
Editorial process
- Source. Obtain DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) bulk case data released through the FOIA library, supplemented with public TRAC Immigration reports for context.
- Verify. Compute the asylum grant rate directly from the application-level EOIR records (I-589 applications granted divided by applications decided on the merits), excluding administrative closures and non-merits dispositions, no subjective scoring or editorial weighting applied.
- Publish. Build a per-court, per-judge, and per-nationality page showing the underlying decision counts so readers can assess statistical reliability and trace figures back to the source release.
Editorial independence & corrections
The PlainImmigration is independent and accepts no payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from any organization. Found an error or a stale figure? File a correction via the contact page; we respond within 72 hours and publish corrections with a visible revision note. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
Frequently asked
What is PlainImmigration?
PlainImmigration displays US immigration court case outcome statistics from DOJ EOIR FOIA data. It shows judge-level grant and denial rates, court backlogs, and nationality-based outcomes so you can understand variance in the immigration court system.
Where does this data come from?
All data comes from the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) case data released via FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). This is the same underlying data used by academic researchers and advocacy organizations to study immigration court outcomes.
Why do grant rates vary so much between judges?
Research shows significant "lottery effects" in immigration courts: outcomes can vary dramatically based on which judge is randomly assigned to a case. Factors include the types of cases a judge handles, the nationalities of applicants, and legal representation rates, not adjudicator philosophy alone. These are descriptive statistics, not predictions for any individual case.
Is this legal advice?
No. PlainImmigration provides statistical data only and is not legal advice. Every case is different. Always consult a licensed immigration attorney for advice about your specific situation.