Courts → Boston, MA

Immigration court · Boston, MA

Boston Immigration Court

53.8% asylum grant rate across 17,743 merits decisions (FY2015–2025) - above the 48.2% national average.

Data updated 2026-06-21

53.8%
Asylum grant rate
46.2%
Asylum denial rate
77,847
Pending cases
39 mo
Time to decision

The verdict

The Boston Immigration Court granted asylum in 53.8% of the 17,743 cases it decided on the merits - above the 48.2% national rate.

53.8%
Asylum grant rate
17,743
Merits decisions, FY2015–2025
48
Judges with reported asylum decisions
77,847
Pending cases (all types)
Statistical data only. Grant rates reflect historical case outcomes and are not predictive of any individual case result. Consult a licensed immigration attorney for legal advice.

Case Insights: Boston Immigration Court

The Boston Immigration Court, based in Boston, MA, decided 17,743 asylum cases on the merits between FY2015 and FY2025 - out of 322,869 total proceedings of all case types it handled. Of those asylum decisions, 9,545 were granted (53.8%) and 8,198 were denied (46.2%). The court has 48 immigration judges with enough asylum decisions to report, whose individual grant rates shape the court-wide average shown above.

Between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2025, the grant rate at Boston Immigration Court fell by 23.0 percentage points, moving from 75.0% to 52.0%. That window spans 11 fiscal years of reported data, covering shifts in bench composition, policy guidance, and nationality mix. The year-by-year table lower on this page shows the underlying annual case volume for every year in the series.

Outcomes vary substantially judge-to-judge. Judge MOS decided the most asylum cases here - 1,907 merits decisions (84.6% grant rate). The spread between the highest-grant and lowest-grant judges at this court is 85.2 percentage points - SAA at 88.2% versus ZRA at 3.0%. These differences reflect case mix, nationality assignments, and docket type rather than any single factor, and they are why EOIR cautions readers against treating any judge's rate as predictive of an individual case.

53.8%
Asylum Grant Rate
46.2%
Asylum Denial Rate
17,743
Asylum Decisions
39 mo
Avg Time to Decision
Granted9545Denied8198
Asylum Outcomes at Boston Immigration Court - 17,743 merits decisions, FY2015–2025

Asylum Grant Rate

53.8% of merits decisions

Asylum cases decided at Boston Immigration Court

Pending Cases

77,847

Open proceedings (all case types)

Asylum Decisions

17,743

Merits decisions, FY2015–2025

Grant rate over time

Asylum grant rate by fiscal year at Boston Immigration Court.

Fiscal year Decisions Grant rate
FY2015 304 75.0%
FY2016 349 77.9%
FY2017 631 65.1%
FY2018 743 57.2%
FY2019 1,428 48.6%
FY2020 1,433 53.1%
FY2021 794 62.5%
FY2022 2,143 58.7%
FY2023 3,482 48.6%
FY2024 3,004 50.7%
FY2025 3,432 52.0%

The judge lottery at Boston Immigration Court

48 judges with enough asylum decisions to report. Grant rates run from 88.2% (136 decisions) down to 3.0% (66 decisions) - a 85.2-point spread on the same bench. Rates based on smaller decision counts carry more statistical noise.

Judge names below are the anonymized judge codes EOIR assigns in its public case-data release, not verified public identities. EOIR does not publish immigration judges' full names in this dataset. See our methodology for detail.

# Judge Decisions Asylum grant rate
1 Judge SAA 136
88.2%
2 Judge MOS 1,907
84.6%
3 Judge LIS 58
84.5%
4 Judge REF 788
71.7%
5 Judge SVA 105
69.5%
6 Judge OMB 1,851
68.5%
7 Judge SDS 31
67.7%
8 Judge PMG 222
65.3%
9 Judge JMW 82
63.4%
10 Judge MDD 562
62.5%
11 Judge MRM 141
62.4%
12 Judge ERG 547
62.3%
13 Judge MIS 275
60.7%
14 Judge MBH 25
60.0%
15 Judge TRA 60
58.3%
16 Judge MJD 413
57.6%
17 Judge SHC 1,097
52.7%
18 Judge RLP 594
50.3%
19 Judge GET 848
49.6%
20 Judge LSJ 287
49.1%
21 Judge MJS 1,874
46.1%
22 Judge WTN 150
45.3%
23 Judge JAH 78
44.9%
24 Judge JPI 50
44.0%
25 Judge THS 60
43.3%
26 Judge LSA 50
42.0%
27 Judge TAM 1,083
41.6%
28 Judge ANE 225
41.3%
29 Judge JAL 95
41.1%
30 Judge MEK 818
40.0%
31 Judge RDC 127
39.4%
32 Judge LSY 300
38.3%
33 Judge HAK 253
37.2%
34 Judge JMF 776
36.9%
35 Judge AMO 221
35.7%
36 Judge NYG 54
35.2%
37 Judge JBT 249
32.9%
38 Judge JS1 93
32.3%
39 Judge NSM 108
31.5%
40 Judge DDO 68
29.4%
41 Judge GEP 121
28.1%
42 Judge SFD 41
24.4%
43 Judge JRM 114
18.4%
44 Judge YMC 122
13.1%
45 Judge JAZ 160
12.5%
46 Judge SSL 36
11.1%
47 Judge DRN 139
10.1%
48 Judge ZRA 66
3.0%

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the grant rate at the Boston Immigration Court immigration court? ▼
The Boston Immigration Court immigration court has an overall grant rate of 53.8% and a denial rate of 46.2%, based on 17,743 asylum merits decisions (FY2015–2025) from DOJ EOIR records.
How many immigration judges serve at Boston Immigration Court? ▼
Boston Immigration Court has 48 immigration judges on record. Grant rates vary significantly between judges, from 3.0% to 88.2%.
How long do cases take at Boston Immigration Court? ▼
The average wait time at Boston Immigration Court is approximately 39 months. Wait times vary based on case type, docket load, and whether continuances are granted.
Where is the Boston Immigration Court immigration court located? ▼
The Boston Immigration Court immigration court is located in Boston, MA. It is part of the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) system.
Does the grant rate predict my case outcome at Boston Immigration Court? ▼
No. Grant rates are historical averages reflecting aggregate outcomes across all case types and judges. Individual outcomes depend on the specific facts of each case, the judge assigned, the type of relief sought, and whether you have legal representation. Always consult a licensed immigration attorney.
How has the Boston Immigration Court grant rate changed over time? ▼
Between FY2015 and FY2025, the grant rate at Boston Immigration Court decreased from 75.0% to 52.0%. Year-by-year data is shown in the trends table on this page.

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Data from the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) via FOIA bulk case data. Statistical information only, not legal advice.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

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Source: U.S. EOIR, Immigration Court Statistics Immigration court outcomes by court and case type · 2025

Every figure on PlainImmigration is rendered directly from federal immigration court records, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on DOJ EOIR case-level records, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.