Immigration judge · Portland Immigration Court (Detained)

Immigration Judge LEM

According to the DOJ EOIR FOIA release (vintage 2026-08), signature read: Judge LEM's 71.9% grant rate is among the highest in the tracked IJ corpus. Grant rate sits in the upper third of tracked IJs at 71.9% (above the 48.3% national average).

Data updated 2026-09-05

71.9%
Asylum grant rate
28.1%
Asylum denial rate
196
Asylum decisions

Judge LEM in one line

Judge LEM's asylum grant rate is 71.9% (upper-third grant rate, above the 48.3% national average) across 196 FY2015-2025 merits decisions (mid-band volume).

71.9%
Asylum grant rate · Upper-third grant rate
196
Merits decisions · Mid-band volume
+23.6 pp
vs. national average
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"LEM" is the anonymized judge code DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) assigns in its public case-data release, not a verified public identity. EOIR does not publish immigration judges' full names in this dataset, so this code should not be read as confirming, or attributing these statistics to, any specific named individual. See our methodology for detail.

Statistical data only. Judge LEM's 71.9% grant-leaning history still mixes case types and nationalities, not a forecast for a future merits hearing. Consult a licensed immigration attorney.

Judge LEM vs all tracked IJs by asylum grant rate

Where this judge's FY2015–2025 asylum grant rate sits among every tracked immigration judge (a leniency measure, not a quality ranking)

71.9% 185th of 1696 higher than 1,511 of 1,696 judges

Immigration judges, banded by asylum grant rate

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more judges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source DOJ EOIR asylum merits decisions · FY2015–2025

Year-by-Year Outcomes

Historical asylum merits decisions for this anonymized EOIR judge code. Annual rows can be thin, and are not a forecast of any future case.

FY Decisions Grants Denials Grant %
2021 20 11 9 55.0%
2022 84 50 34 59.5%
2023 91 80 11 87.9%
2024 1 0 1 0.0%

IJ rate-band chamber

Anonymized codes nearest Judge LEM's grant rate

This chamber tracks nationwide IJs nearest Judge LEM's 71.9% grant rate, an upper-third corpus rate, with THIN/LIGHT/FULL/HEAVY merits stamps on each peer row.

1,695 other immigration judges nationwide have a tracked asylum grant rate; the 6 closest matches to Judge LEM are shown here.

IJ Grant Δ vs here Merits Stamp Court
JN 71.9% same 720 FULL Dallas
REF 71.8% -0.1 pp 788 FULL Boston
JFD 71.8% -0.1 pp 436 LIGHT New York - Varick Street
WPK 71.8% -0.1 pp 39 THIN Sterling
DKM 72.1% +0.2 pp 43 THIN Santa Ana
JAL 71.7% -0.2 pp 435 LIGHT Chicago

Same-bench poles at Portland

Same-bench spread at Portland: Judge LEM runs 71.9% - above both the 48.3% national average and several benchmates with at least 20 merits.

Nationwide judges with similar asylum caseload

Immigration judges at other courts with a comparable merits-decision volume, distinct from same-bench grant-rate peers above.

  • IJ MMC · New York - Federal Plaza Immigration Court · 196 merits · 74.5% grant
  • IJ VPG · Chicago Immigration Court · 196 merits · 59.7% grant
  • IJ BNR · Miami Immigration Court · 196 merits · 29.1% grant
  • IJ RDB · Elizabeth Immigration Court · 196 merits · 12.8% grant

Data from DOJ EOIR FOIA bulk case data for Judge LEM at Portland Immigration Court (Detained). Statistical information only, not legal advice.

DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) FOIA bulk case data for IJ LEM at Portland Immigration Court (Detained); asylum grant rate 71.9%. PlainImmigration computed grant/denial aggregates FY2015–FY2025; Merits volume is mid-band at 196 decisions FY2015–2025.

Judge LEM's figures are computed from EOIR case-level records - asylum grant rate 71.9%, not hand-typed editorial values. justice.gov/eoir/foia-library-0

Every figure on PlainImmigration is rendered directly from federal immigration court records, no number is typed in by an editor. Judge LEM's grant/denial/merits figures are recomputed live from the EOIR case-level extract on every request, never hand-typed. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-05.