Asylum Grant Rate
35.4% of merits decisions
Asylum cases decided at Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court
Courts → Houston, TX
Immigration court · Houston, TX
Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court
35.4% asylum grant rate across 7,394 merits decisions (FY2015–2025) - below the 48.2% national average.
Data updated 2026-06-21
- 35.4%
- Asylum grant rate
- 64.6%
- Asylum denial rate
- 22,429
- Pending cases
- 25 mo
- Time to decision
The verdict
The Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court granted asylum in 35.4% of the 7,394 cases it decided on the merits - below the 48.2% national rate.
- 35.4%
- Asylum grant rate
- 7,394
- Merits decisions, FY2015–2025
- 18
- Judges with reported asylum decisions
- 22,429
- 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 - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court
The Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court, based in Houston, TX, decided 7,394 asylum cases on the merits between FY2015 and FY2025 - out of 126,146 total proceedings of all case types it handled. Of those asylum decisions, 2,614 were granted (35.4%) and 4,780 were denied (64.6%). The court has 18 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 - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court rose by 35.1 percentage points, moving from 0.0% to 35.1%. 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 KBR decided the most asylum cases here - 1,053 merits decisions (27.4% grant rate). The spread between the highest-grant and lowest-grant judges at this court is 88.9 percentage points - LLU at 88.9% versus KC 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.
35.4%
Asylum Grant Rate
64.6%
Asylum Denial Rate
7,394
Asylum Decisions
25 mo
Avg Time to Decision
Pending Cases
22,429
Open proceedings (all case types)
Asylum Decisions
7,394
Merits decisions, FY2015–2025
Grant rate over time
Asylum grant rate by fiscal year at Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court.
| Fiscal year | Decisions | Grant rate |
|---|---|---|
| FY2015 | 35 | 0.0% |
| FY2016 | 34 | 0.0% |
| FY2017 | 25 | 4.0% |
| FY2018 | 22 | 9.1% |
| FY2019 | 33 | 6.1% |
| FY2020 | 361 | 17.5% |
| FY2021 | 524 | 28.2% |
| FY2022 | 1,111 | 28.7% |
| FY2023 | 1,253 | 47.2% |
| FY2024 | 1,329 | 41.5% |
| FY2025 | 2,667 | 35.1% |
The judge lottery at Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court
18 judges with enough asylum decisions to report. Grant rates run from 88.9% (27 decisions) down to 0.0% (30 decisions) - a 88.9-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 LLU | 27 | |
| 2 | Judge NES | 155 | |
| 3 | Judge DMP | 297 | |
| 4 | Judge GYH | 652 | |
| 5 | Judge AWS | 280 | |
| 6 | Judge JJC | 479 | |
| 7 | Judge MGC | 430 | |
| 8 | Judge DAJ | 790 | |
| 9 | Judge KYT | 383 | |
| 10 | Judge CMR | 550 | |
| 11 | Judge JNM | 295 | |
| 12 | Judge CDK | 233 | |
| 13 | Judge CMS | 902 | |
| 14 | Judge KBR | 1,053 | |
| 15 | Judge AAJ | 579 | |
| 16 | Judge MIO | 33 | |
| 17 | Judge JGC | 87 | |
| 18 | Judge KC | 30 | |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the grant rate at the Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court immigration court? ▼
The Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court immigration court has an overall grant rate of 35.4% and a denial rate of 64.6%, based on 7,394 asylum merits decisions (FY2015–2025) from DOJ EOIR records.
How many immigration judges serve at Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court? ▼
Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court has 18 immigration judges on record. Grant rates vary significantly between judges, from 0.0% to 88.9%.
How long do cases take at Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court? ▼
The average wait time at Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court is approximately 25 months. Wait times vary based on case type, docket load, and whether continuances are granted.
Where is the Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court immigration court located? ▼
The Houston - S. Gessner Road 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 - S. Gessner Road 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 - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court grant rate changed over time? ▼
Between FY2015 and FY2025, the grant rate at Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court increased from 0.0% to 35.1%. Year-by-year data is shown in the trends table on this page.
Explore PlainImmigration
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.
Related
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.