Methodology & Data Sources

Data Source

All data comes from the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) case data released via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. EOIR is a component of the U.S. Department of Justice that administers the nation's immigration court system — a network of approximately 70 courts where immigration judges adjudicate removal proceedings, asylum applications, and other immigration matters. EOIR maintains records on millions of immigration cases decided since 2001, making this the most comprehensive public source of immigration court outcome data available. The FOIA dataset includes individual case records with outcome dispositions, judge assignments, court locations, respondent nationalities, types of relief sought, and case processing dates.

What the Data Contains

• Court of record: Which immigration court (city/location) heard the case
• Judge assigned: The immigration judge who decided the case
• Nationality: Country of origin of the respondent
• Relief type sought: Asylum, withholding of removal, Convention Against Torture protection, cancellation of removal, etc.
• Case outcome: Whether relief was granted, denied, terminated, or resulted in another disposition

Processing Pipeline

1. Obtain EOIR case data files via FOIA request or from published FOIA releases
2. Parse case records and standardize outcome codes (grant, denial, termination, etc.)
3. Aggregate by judge: total cases decided, grant rate, denial rate, and breakdown by nationality and relief type
4. Aggregate by court location: total caseload, average grant rate, backlog size, and top nationalities represented
5. Aggregate by nationality: overall grant rate, top receiving courts, and most common relief types sought
6. Load into our searchable database with judge, court, and nationality indexes

Grant Rate Calculation

Grant rates are calculated as: (cases where relief was granted) / (total cases decided with a merits outcome). Cases that were terminated, voluntarily dismissed, or resulted in voluntary departure are excluded from grant rate calculations to avoid distorting comparisons. Only affirmative grant or denial outcomes are counted.

Data Vintage and Update Frequency

The EOIR FOIA dataset covers cases decided from 2001 through the most recent available release. EOIR processes FOIA requests periodically, and updated datasets may include newly decided cases as well as corrections to previously released records. PlainImmigration updates its database when new EOIR FOIA releases become available. Because FOIA processing takes time, there is typically a lag of several months between cases being decided and their appearance in the published dataset.

Accuracy Commitment

PlainImmigration reproduces EOIR case data exactly as released through FOIA. Grant rates, case counts, and outcome breakdowns are calculated directly from the underlying case records using the methodology described above. No subjective scoring, editorial weighting, or case selection is applied. When data is incomplete for a particular judge, court, or nationality due to FOIA record limitations, this is displayed transparently rather than estimated. Judge and court profiles always show the total number of cases on which statistics are based, enabling users to assess statistical reliability.

Limitations

• EOIR FOIA data may contain incomplete records, especially for older cases, cases where records were sealed, or cases involving minors. Some fields may be redacted or missing in the FOIA release.
• Grant rate variance between judges reflects many factors beyond individual decision-making, including the mix of case types (asylum vs. cancellation of removal), nationality mix of cases assigned, respondent representation rates, and the specific legal claims presented. Comparisons between judges should be made cautiously and with this context in mind.
• The data reflects past outcomes. Immigration court practices, legal standards, and policy guidance from the Attorney General change over time, and historical grant rates may not reflect current conditions at any given court.
• This is a statistical data resource only — nothing on PlainImmigration constitutes legal advice. Every immigration case is unique. Always consult a licensed immigration attorney for advice specific to your situation.
• PlainImmigration is not affiliated with DOJ, EOIR, or any government agency.

Editorial Workflow

Content on PlainImmigration is compiled by our editorial team. Raw case data from DOJ EOIR, TRAC Immigration, DHS, and USCIS public releases is ingested programmatically by our ETL pipeline; narrative framing, guide text, rankings commentary, and methodology writeups are drafted by our editorial team and then reviewed line-by-line by the PlainImmigration Editorial team at Kiznis Studio before publication. We follow rigorous editorial standards: source data is loaded directly from official agencies, never invented or interpolated. No page on PlainImmigration is published without human review. We do not accept payment for coverage, placement, or rankings — judge and court statistics are computed directly from the underlying EOIR FOIA case records.

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact

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