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EOIR / Immigration Court

Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court - Asylum Decision Statistics

Aggregated asylum decision statistics across all immigration judges currently sitting at the Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court, based on FOIA-released EOIR data.

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Latest 12-month grant rate

1.1%

Asylum decisions, trailing 12 months

Lifetime total cases

31,629

All recorded asylum decisions

FY2025 court average

5.1%

Complete fiscal year: Oct 2024 – Sep 2025

Before the 2025 change

10.5%

FY2024 baseline: Oct 2023 – Sep 2024

FY2024 was the last full fiscal year before the January 2025 asylum-policy changes, so it is kept fixed as a before-and-after baseline rather than updated. More cases now close administratively, which shifts the merit-decision mix and is why the later figures are much lower.

Last data refresh

2026-09-24

From Deportation Data Project FOIA release

Monthly grant-rate trend

0%25%50%75%100%
Monthly grant-rate data
MonthGrant rate
2025-091.7%
2025-102.2%
2025-112.8%
2025-122.3%
2026-010.6%
2026-020.7%
2026-031.4%
2026-040.4%
2026-050.5%
2026-060.4%
2026-071.6%
2026-081.2%

Which immigration judges work at the Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court?

The table below lists every judge with substantive asylum case volume in the last 24 months at the Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court. The 12-month grant rate column reflects the trailing year ending 2026-09-24. Lifetime cases counts all recorded asylum decisions for each judge across the FOIA-released dataset.

Judge12-month grant rateLifetime cases
Adkins-Blanch, Charles-4
Araneta, Michelle-2
Archuleta, Judy-15
Ayze, Thomas-8
Bales, Eric C.-28
Bashore, Jacob D.-2
Behne, Audra R.-2
Benton, Jimmie Lee-178
Bhagat, Nimmo1.6%5,112
Brisack, Chris A.-1,104
Brown, Robert-191
Brown, Sam, IV0.2%2,720
Burgess, Abraham L.-14
Castrolugo, Elisa-62
Cheeks, Demetrius0.0%24
Cordero Gonzalez, Miguel A.-2
Dean, Larry R.-1
Duck, John A., JR.-2
Eller, Donald R., JR.-18
Ellison, Sarah M.-11
Endelman, Gary E.8.3%4,124
FENELON, ZAHRA JIVANI-469
Freeman, D'Anna H.-25
Gemoets, Marcos-1
Gorman, Stephanie-678
Greenbaum, Scott V.1.3%226
Greenstein, Saul E.1.2%1,856
Guidry, Monica Thompson-24
Harris, Monique-1,706
Hart, Brandon L.-26
Hartnett, Sarah-153
Hladylowycz, Roxanne C.-8
Hom, Howard C.-8
Hsu, Lily C-5
Hughes, Erica-8
Jacobs, Richard C.-14
Jamadar, Richard A.-33
John-Baptiste, Allan-3
Kandler, Edward R.-10
Khan, Anwer A.1.8%2,000
Law, Philip S.-1,097
Lee, Alexander-1
Leonard, Joseph T.-19
Lucic, Nicholas B.-2
Luis, Lisa-227
Mahasa, Zakia-3
Martinez, Hugo R.-17
May, Jennifer A.-165
Mcguirk, Erica J.-242
Midgley, Ian D.-1
Muneer, Revathi0.0%147
Nguyen, Bao Q.-10
Nugent, James A.-2
Onyewuchi, Morris I.-2
Osborn, Joshua D.-1
Parikh, Kiera0.0%170
Peterson, William C.-334
Picos, Georgina M.10.6%2,163
Pobjecky, Artie0.0%40
Powell, Robert L.-2
Rahill, Michael F.-4
Ramos, Maritza S.0.8%663
Recio, Irene M.-10
Rose, Howard-31
Sapp, Billy J.-1
Savage, Patrick S.-11
Schools, Shelly W.-7
Sharp, Noelle-3
Suarez, Michael K.-61
Sydnor, Kelley N-30
Thielemann, Christopher J.-21
Tida, Abdias E.0.0%61
Uddin, Marium S.-6
Vail, Joseph-129
Videla, Gabriel C.-5
Wagner, Clarence M., JR.-10
Walton, Richard D.-232
Wang, Lynn0.4%1,081
Winkle, Howard Van-32
Yam, Mimi-326
Yates, Clarease Rankin-2,093
Young, Elizabeth L.-10
Zimmer, William K.-1,247

Frequently asked questions

What is the asylum grant rate at the Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court?

Over the trailing 12 months, the Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court granted asylum in 1.1% of decided cases. The fiscal year 2024 (Oct 2023 – Sep 2024) court-wide average was 10.5%. The two numbers may differ because policy and caseload shifts can move rates significantly year-over-year.

How many immigration judges work at the Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court?

Based on the most recent FOIA-released EOIR data, 83 immigration judges are listed as actively sitting at the Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court with asylum case volume in the last 24 months. The full judge roster, each with their individual grant rate, appears below.

How many asylum decisions has the Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court issued total?

The Houston - Smith Street Immigration Court has issued 31,629 recorded asylum decisions across the full FOIA-released dataset. This includes both grants and denials but excludes administrative outcomes (cases dismissed, terminated, or closed without a merits ruling).

How is the asylum grant rate calculated?

Grant rate = (cases with case_outcome of "Relief Granted") divided by (cases with case_outcome of "Relief Granted" or "Remove"). Cases closed administratively - dismissed, terminated, voluntary departure - are excluded from the denominator. This is the standard methodology used by TRAC Immigration (Syracuse) and the Deportation Data Project (UC Berkeley).

Browse other US immigration courts

Asylum grant rates vary widely between courts. Compare with these high-volume immigration courts:

Methodology & sources

Primary source
Deportation Data Project (UC Berkeley) - FOIA-released EOIR case-level data.
Secondary source
TRAC Immigration (Syracuse University) - independent corroboration of grant-rate aggregates.
Last data refresh
2026-09-24

Statistical data only. Case outcomes depend on case-specific merits, evidence, and counsel quality. This page is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice or a guarantee of any outcome.