EOIR · FY2024→FY2025
Asylum Grant-Rate Change Rankings
Year-over-year change in asylum grant rate on merits decisions across 65 courts with ≥100 decisions in both FY2024 and FY2025. Same court_yearly series each court page shows.
Data updated 2026-09-05
- +13.8 pp
- Largest rise · Otay Mesa
- -24.8 pp
- Largest decline · Baltimore
- 65
- Courts with both years (≥100 merits)
Otay Mesa Immigration Court posted the largest asylum grant-rate increase among 65 courts with ≥100 merits decisions in both FY2024 and FY2025: +13.8 pp. The #13 cutoff on this rising board is +0.2 pp.
FY2024→FY2025 asylum grant-rate change
Otay Mesa Immigration Court leads this board at +13.8 pp (23.5% → 37.3%). The 13th-place cutoff to appear on the rising list is +0.2 pp; Baltimore Immigration Court sits at the other end at -24.8 pp.
- +13.8 pp
- #1 rise · Otay Mesa
- +0.2 pp
- #13 cutoff, rising board
- -24.8 pp
- Largest decline · Baltimore
- 65
- Courts with a prior-year pair (≥100 merits)
Grant rate = I-589 asylum grants ÷ merits decisions (grants + denials) in that fiscal year from the DOJ EOIR FOIA extract. Not a quality score and not legal advice. Case mix, nationality mix, and representation rates all move the rate. PlainImmigration does not represent respondents.
Not legal advice: outcomes depend on facts specific to each case. Consult a licensed immigration attorney or accredited representative for guidance on your situation.
Largest asylum grant-rate increases
Top 12 of 13 courts on the rising board. Sort key is percentage-point change in court_yearly.grant_rate, FY2025 versus FY2024.
The bar to make this list
Every court with a valid FY2024->FY2025 pair, banded by grant-rate change
+1.1 pp Top 18% higher than 82% of 65 courts
courts with a valid FY pair, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more courts. 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 FOIA via PlainImmigration · FY2024-FY2025
13 steepest increases
| # | Court | YoY | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Otay Mesa | +13.8 pp | 23.5%→37.3% |
| 2 | Denver | +8.9 pp | 54.2%→63.1% |
| 3 | Portland Immigration Court (Detained) | +8.6 pp | 51.0%→59.6% |
| 4 | Annandale | +7.6 pp | 53.2%→60.8% |
| 5 | Adelanto | +7.6 pp | 3.5%→11.1% |
| 6 | Detroit | +6.3 pp | 44.8%→51.1% |
| 7 | Los Angeles - N. Los Angeles Street | +5.8 pp | 44.7%→50.5% |
| 8 | Newark | +3.8 pp | 44.7%→48.5% |
| 9 | Buffalo | +3.2 pp | 45.0%→48.2% |
| 10 | Boston | +2.5 pp | 49.1%→51.6% |
| 11 | Houston - Greenspoint Park | +2.2 pp | 30.8%→33.0% |
| 12 | Seattle | +1.1 pp | 42.2%→43.3% |
| 13 | Harlingen | +0.2 pp | 58.0%→58.2% |
50 steepest declines
| # | Court | YoY | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baltimore | -24.8 pp | 67.8%→43.0% |
| 2 | Houston - Smith Street | -20.9 pp | 52.4%→31.5% |
| 3 | Hyattsville | -19.5 pp | 58.4%→38.9% |
| 4 | Omaha | -17.3 pp | 49.5%→32.2% |
| 5 | Sterling | -17.2 pp | 59.1%→41.9% |
| 6 | Salt Lake City | -15.3 pp | 76.3%→61.0% |
| 7 | Stewart | -15.3 pp | 23.0%→7.7% |
| 8 | Philadelphia | -14.5 pp | 65.8%→51.3% |
| 9 | San Diego | -14.0 pp | 62.4%→48.4% |
| 10 | New Orleans | -13.6 pp | 62.1%→48.5% |
| 11 | Fort Snelling | -13.5 pp | 51.5%→38.0% |
| 12 | Tacoma | -13.4 pp | 24.7%→11.3% |
| 13 | Los Angeles - Van Nuys Boulevard | -12.2 pp | 72.2%→60.0% |
| 14 | Florence | -11.2 pp | 27.4%→16.2% |
| 15 | Phoenix | -10.6 pp | 46.6%→36.0% |
| 16 | Chicago | -10.5 pp | 71.1%→60.6% |
| 17 | Atlanta - W. Peachtree Street | -10.3 pp | 57.6%→47.3% |
| 18 | Dallas | -10.2 pp | 65.8%→55.6% |
| 19 | Concord | -10.2 pp | 75.8%→65.6% |
| 20 | Las Vegas | -10.0 pp | 75.1%→65.1% |
| 21 | Elizabeth | -9.9 pp | 17.4%→7.5% |
| 22 | New York - Federal Plaza | -9.7 pp | 83.7%→74.0% |
| 23 | Charlotte | -9.0 pp | 47.2%→38.2% |
| 24 | Aurora | -8.3 pp | 27.4%→19.1% |
| 25 | Kansas City | -8.1 pp | 54.8%→46.7% |
| 26 | Santa Ana | -7.8 pp | 48.1%→40.3% |
| 27 | Otero | -7.8 pp | 18.0%→10.2% |
| 28 | Miami | -7.6 pp | 61.3%→53.7% |
| 29 | Orlando | -6.9 pp | 66.0%→59.1% |
| 30 | Imperial | -6.8 pp | 51.3%→44.5% |
| 31 | Tucson | -6.5 pp | 33.7%→27.2% |
| 32 | Eloy | -6.3 pp | 27.3%→21.0% |
| 33 | Laredo | -6.0 pp | 20.1%→14.1% |
| 34 | LaSalle Immigration Court (Jena) | -5.9 pp | 22.2%→16.3% |
| 35 | Hartford | -5.9 pp | 49.7%→43.8% |
| 36 | Houston - S. Gessner Road | -5.5 pp | 41.2%→35.7% |
| 37 | El Paso | -5.2 pp | 53.7%→48.5% |
| 38 | New York - Varick Street | -5.0 pp | 59.8%→54.8% |
| 39 | Miami - Krome | -5.0 pp | 17.2%→12.2% |
| 40 | Honolulu | -3.9 pp | 68.4%→64.5% |
| 41 | Chelmsford Immigration Court (Detained) | -3.9 pp | 53.9%→50.0% |
| 42 | San Francisco | -3.8 pp | 73.4%→69.6% |
| 43 | Oakdale | -3.4 pp | 17.7%→14.3% |
| 44 | New York - Broadway | -3.3 pp | 52.5%→49.2% |
| 45 | Los Angeles - West | -3.0 pp | 62.9%→59.9% |
| 46 | Conroe | -1.7 pp | 10.5%→8.8% |
| 47 | El Paso Service Processing Center | -1.6 pp | 16.6%→15.0% |
| 48 | Memphis | -1.0 pp | 58.0%→57.0% |
| 49 | San Antonio | -1.0 pp | 60.6%→59.6% |
| 50 | Sacramento | -0.5 pp | 82.1%→81.6% |
Single-year grant-rate boards still live on highest and lowest grant-rate rankings. Source: DOJ EOIR FOIA asylum merits extract.
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 immigration court case data; no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-09-05.