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Immigration court · Houston, TX

Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court

29.0% asylum grant rate across 28,878 merits decisions (FY2015–2025) - below the 48.2% national average.

Data updated 2026-06-21

29.0%
Asylum grant rate
71.0%
Asylum denial rate
10,870
Pending cases
32 mo
Time to decision

The verdict

The Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court granted asylum in 29.0% of the 28,878 cases it decided on the merits - below the 48.2% national rate.

29.0%
Asylum grant rate
28,878
Merits decisions, FY2015–2025
38
Judges with reported asylum decisions
10,870
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: Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court

The Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court, based in Houston, TX, decided 28,878 asylum cases on the merits between FY2015 and FY2025 - out of 302,042 total proceedings of all case types it handled. Of those asylum decisions, 8,366 were granted (29.0%) and 20,512 were denied (71.0%). The court has 38 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 Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court rose by 13.0 percentage points, moving from 18.0% to 31.0%. 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 GEE decided the most asylum cases here - 4,571 merits decisions (28.7% grant rate). The spread between the highest-grant and lowest-grant judges at this court is 64.3 percentage points - SHH at 64.3% versus CTN at 0.0%. 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.

29.0%
Asylum Grant Rate
71.0%
Asylum Denial Rate
28,878
Asylum Decisions
32 mo
Avg Time to Decision
Granted8366Denied20512
Asylum Outcomes at Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court - 28,878 merits decisions, FY2015–2025

Asylum Grant Rate

29.0% of merits decisions

Asylum cases decided at Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court

Pending Cases

10,870

Open proceedings (all case types)

Asylum Decisions

28,878

Merits decisions, FY2015–2025

Grant rate over time

Asylum grant rate by fiscal year at Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court.

Fiscal year Decisions Grant rate
FY2015 406 18.0%
FY2016 2,034 19.9%
FY2017 2,419 26.1%
FY2018 3,979 28.0%
FY2019 5,415 21.7%
FY2020 4,492 22.9%
FY2021 353 39.1%
FY2022 2,030 31.6%
FY2023 2,522 49.5%
FY2024 1,403 52.0%
FY2025 3,825 31.0%

The judge lottery at Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court

38 judges with enough asylum decisions to report. Grant rates run from 64.3% (98 decisions) down to 0.0% (27 decisions) - a 64.3-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 SHH 98
64.3%
2 Judge EHS 342
47.4%
3 Judge BQN 1,006
46.6%
4 Judge JDO 344
43.3%
5 Judge JBE 29
37.9%
6 Judge MZR 865
37.5%
7 Judge KFL 47
36.2%
8 Judge AKN 1,387
35.8%
9 Judge LLU 145
34.5%
10 Judge GMP 2,303
32.0%
11 Judge BHA 4,384
30.1%
12 Judge SG1 731
30.0%
13 Judge LWA 739
29.6%
14 Judge GEE 4,571
28.7%
15 Judge DER 42
28.6%
16 Judge ZJF 419
28.2%
17 Judge EBS 39
28.2%
18 Judge SEG 1,365
27.5%
19 Judge MG1 1,811
27.1%
20 Judge SBN 1,869
26.6%
21 Judge CMR 850
26.5%
22 Judge JAM 179
25.1%
23 Judge AET 40
25.0%
24 Judge RCJ 43
23.3%
25 Judge RJ1 902
22.9%
26 Judge EMK 262
22.9%
27 Judge DHF 117
20.5%
28 Judge MTG 261
20.3%
29 Judge HAR 1,789
19.9%
30 Judge CBA 421
19.7%
31 Judge HRG 29
13.8%
32 Judge SME 25
12.0%
33 Judge BLH 50
10.0%
34 Judge BIM 116
9.5%
35 Judge EC3 62
8.1%
36 Judge RW 790
7.8%
37 Judge JTL 35
5.7%
38 Judge CTN 27
0.0%

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the grant rate at the Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court immigration court? ▼
The Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court immigration court has an overall grant rate of 29.0% and a denial rate of 71.0%, based on 28,878 asylum merits decisions (FY2015–2025) from DOJ EOIR records.
How many immigration judges serve at Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court? ▼
Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court has 38 immigration judges on record. Grant rates vary significantly between judges, from 0.0% to 64.3%.
How long do cases take at Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court? ▼
The average wait time at Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court is approximately 32 months. Wait times vary based on case type, docket load, and whether continuances are granted.
Where is the Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court immigration court located? ▼
The Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court immigration court is located in Houston, TX. It is part of the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) system.
Does the grant rate predict my case outcome at Houston - Smith Street 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 Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court grant rate changed over time? ▼
Between FY2015 and FY2025, the grant rate at Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court increased from 18.0% to 31.0%. 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.