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Immigration court · Chicago, IL

Chicago Immigration Court

Name: Chicago Immigration Court Immigration Court Data
Creator: PlainImmigration
Published: 2025-09-30
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

61.5% asylum grant rate across 20,057 merits decisions (FY2015–2025) - above the 48.2% national average.

Compiled by PlainImmigration Editorial, Immigration Court Outcomes Editorial Team

Data updated 2026-06-21

61.5%
Asylum grant rate: 38.5%
Asylum denial rate: 192,179
Pending cases: 27 mo
Time to decision

The verdict

The Chicago Immigration Court granted asylum in 61.5% of the 20,057 cases it decided on the merits - above the 48.2% national rate.

61.5%
Asylum grant rate: 20,057
Merits decisions, FY2015–2025: 37
Judges with reported asylum decisions: 192,179
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: Chicago Immigration Court

The Chicago Immigration Court, based in Chicago, IL, decided 20,057 asylum cases on the merits between FY2015 and FY2025 - out of 568,575 total proceedings of all case types it handled. Of those asylum decisions, 12,331 were granted (61.5%) and 7,726 were denied (38.5%). The court has 37 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 Chicago Immigration Court rose by 12.4 percentage points, moving from 49.2% to 61.6%. 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 CDE decided the most asylum cases here - 1,725 merits decisions (48.3% grant rate). The spread between the highest-grant and lowest-grant judges at this court is 78.7 percentage points - STP at 86.7% versus PDM at 8.0%. 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.

61.5%

Asylum Grant Rate

38.5%

Asylum Denial Rate

20,057

Asylum Decisions

27 mo

Avg Time to Decision

Asylum Outcomes at Chicago Immigration Court - 20,057 merits decisions, FY2015–2025

Asylum Grant Rate

61.5% of merits decisions

Asylum cases decided at Chicago Immigration Court

Pending Cases

192,179

Open proceedings (all case types)

Asylum Decisions

20,057

Merits decisions, FY2015–2025

Grant rate over time

Asylum grant rate by fiscal year at Chicago Immigration Court.

Fiscal year	Decisions	Grant rate
FY2015	313	49.2%
FY2016	284	41.2%
FY2017	750	56.9%
FY2018	984	55.7%
FY2019	1,896	59.7%
FY2020	2,044	46.1%
FY2021	1,034	52.7%
FY2022	1,491	68.3%
FY2023	2,665	68.1%
FY2024	3,451	71.3%
FY2025	5,145	61.6%

The judge lottery at Chicago Immigration Court

37 judges with enough asylum decisions to report. Grant rates run from 86.7% (444 decisions) down to 8.0% (25 decisions) - a 78.7-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 STP	444	86.7%
2	Judge JIP	647	84.5%
3	Judge GAR	824	84.0%
4	Judge CAE	357	76.5%
5	Judge JAL	408	71.3%
6	Judge EKN	264	70.8%
7	Judge MBP	92	70.7%
8	Judge EHC	676	69.5%
9	Judge KIN	239	69.5%
10	Judge ELT	421	69.4%
11	Judge ESS	946	68.2%
12	Judge AAM	845	67.9%
13	Judge PPF	242	66.9%
14	Judge KLD	798	66.2%
15	Judge JOB	474	65.4%
16	Judge EGL	554	65.2%
17	Judge BCC	633	64.3%
18	Judge MEV	731	63.9%
19	Judge MLK	959	60.2%
20	Judge VPG	196	59.7%
21	Judge CC	47	59.6%
22	Judge MCS	1,160	59.3%
23	Judge RJR	884	58.9%
24	Judge SNA	924	58.4%
25	Judge SMN	96	58.3%
26	Judge PKM	1,406	55.0%
27	Judge KSA	946	54.3%
28	Judge RDV	239	49.0%
29	Judge SBC	620	48.9%
30	Judge JD	39	48.7%
31	Judge CDE	1,725	48.3%
32	Judge JRF	55	43.6%
33	Judge JLG	442	41.0%
34	Judge LIY	129	31.0%
35	Judge DER	50	26.0%
36	Judge SME	180	15.6%
37	Judge PDM	25	8.0%

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the grant rate at the Chicago Immigration Court immigration court? ▼

The Chicago Immigration Court immigration court has an overall grant rate of 61.5% and a denial rate of 38.5%, based on 20,057 asylum merits decisions (FY2015–2025) from DOJ EOIR records.

How many immigration judges serve at Chicago Immigration Court? ▼

Chicago Immigration Court has 37 immigration judges on record. Grant rates vary significantly between judges, from 8.0% to 86.7%.

How long do cases take at Chicago Immigration Court? ▼

The average wait time at Chicago Immigration Court is approximately 27 months. Wait times vary based on case type, docket load, and whether continuances are granted.

Where is the Chicago Immigration Court immigration court located? ▼

The Chicago Immigration Court immigration court is located in Chicago, IL. It is part of the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) system.

Does the grant rate predict my case outcome at Chicago 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 Chicago Immigration Court grant rate changed over time? ▼

Between FY2015 and FY2025, the grant rate at Chicago Immigration Court increased from 49.2% to 61.6%. 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 Accessed 2026-06-21

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.