Immigration court
Buffalo, NY Immigration Court
13 judges · NY
EOIR data through Oct 1, 2026 · updated monthly
- 10,096
- Granted
- 37,669
- Denied
- 13
- Judges
Distribution
How this court's judges compare
At Buffalo, NY, 11 judges range from 0.8% to 42.4%.
Each judge's all-time EOIR decided outcomes across every court they have served in: granted ÷ (granted + denied). Judges now based at this court with at least 100 decided cases. A historical pattern — not a prediction for any case.
Recent decisions (Oct 2024 – Sep 2026): Buffalo, NY Immigration Court granted asylum in 5.2% of 7,735 decided cases. That is lower than the court's all-time rate of 21.1% (47,765 decided cases). Over the same months, the national rate was 5.0%.
What people ask about Buffalo, NY Immigration Court
These are the questions people asked most about this court from Apr 2026 to Oct 2026. The answers come from EOIR immigration court data.
Which judges at Buffalo, NY Immigration Court grant asylum most often?
Among the 8 judges at this court with at least 25 decided asylum cases in Oct 2024 – Sep 2026, the highest grant rates were: Walter H. Ruehle, 19.7% of 614 decided; Denise Hochul, 13.5% of 297 decided; and Steven J. Connelly, 10.3% of 544 decided. The median judge among them granted 5.4%.
How to Interpret This Court's Data
Court-level statistics aggregate the judges and cases assigned to the Buffalo, NY Immigration Court, so the court average can differ sharply from any one judge's profile.
High-volume judge profiles at this court include Montante Jr., Philip J. (23,992 total cases), Rocco, Michael (15,209 total cases), and Ragno, Thomas M. (11,750 total cases). The largest nationality groups shown for this court (fiscal years 2020–2026) include Ecuador (2,141 decided, 1.7% grant rate), Mexico (1,707 decided, 7.0% grant rate), and Guatemala (1,559 decided, 4.4% grant rate).
Asylum grant rate is calculated as granted / (granted + denied). Procedural outcomes are separated so users can distinguish merits decisions from docket-management outcomes.
This page uses public EOIR records last updated 2026-10-01. The data is informational and should not be treated as legal advice or a prediction for any individual case.
Read how EOIR data works or learn how to compare asylum approval rates.
Areas Served by This Court
Based on the official EOIR ZIP-code assignment, the Buffalo, NY Immigration Court is the assigned filing location for 1,192 ZIP codes. Main cities by state:
NY — Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Schenectady, Binghamton, Niagara Falls, Elmira, Keeseville, Troy, Auburn, Ithaca, Liverpool, Lyon Mountain, Plattsburgh and 1066 more cities
Not sure which immigration court serves your address? Enter your ZIP code in the AsylumTracker app's coverage map.
Judges at This Court
| Judge | Approval Rate | Granted | Denied | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montante Jr., Philip J. | 15.8% | 2,679 | 14,277 | 16,956 |
| Rocco, Michael | 17.9% | 1,400 | 6,428 | 7,828 |
| Ragno, Thomas M. | 28.5% | 2,763 | 6,940 | 9,703 |
| Ruehle, Walter H. | 20.0% | 800 | 3,200 | 4,000 |
| Connelly, Steven J. | 9.9% | 426 | 3,874 | 4,300 |
| Baumgarten, Mary C. | 2.6% | 119 | 4,382 | 4,501 |
| Mc Carrick, John J. | 42.4% | 1,368 | 1,861 | 3,229 |
| Hochul, Denise | 18.0% | 619 | 2,812 | 3,431 |
| Lohr, Brandi | 5.2% | 116 | 2,101 | 2,217 |
| Schultz, Eric | 7.4% | 79 | 988 | 1,067 |
| Staszak, Christopher | 0.8% | 2 | 236 | 238 |
| Rubin, Alexander | 0.0% | 0 | 63 | 63 |
| Sacks, Gordon W. | 23.1% | 3 | 10 | 13 |
Approval Rate by Nationality
Fiscal years 2020–2026 (Oct 2019 – Sep 2026).
| Nationality | Approval Rate | Granted | Denied | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ecuador | 1.7% | 36 | 2,105 | 2,141 |
| Mexico | 7.0% | 119 | 1,588 | 1,707 |
| Guatemala | 4.4% | 69 | 1,490 | 1,559 |
| Venezuela | 4.3% | 61 | 1,343 | 1,404 |
| Colombia | 1.9% | 20 | 1,054 | 1,074 |
| Brazil | 2.1% | 16 | 733 | 749 |
| Honduras | 6.1% | 37 | 569 | 606 |
| Nicaragua | 5.1% | 29 | 542 | 571 |
| Turkey | 7.5% | 43 | 528 | 571 |
| Dominican Republic | 3.2% | 17 | 511 | 528 |
| Cuba | 18.1% | 79 | 357 | 436 |
| Peru | 1.5% | 6 | 388 | 394 |
| El Salvador | 12.9% | 45 | 304 | 349 |
| Haiti | 6.0% | 19 | 297 | 316 |
| India | 9.6% | 30 | 283 | 313 |
| Jamaica | 14.9% | 40 | 228 | 268 |
| Sri Lanka | 3.8% | 10 | 251 | 261 |
| Bangladesh | 29.1% | 72 | 175 | 247 |
| Russia | 50.9% | 117 | 113 | 230 |
| Angola | 12.8% | 28 | 190 | 218 |
| Afghanistan | 40.4% | 80 | 118 | 198 |
| Democratic Republic Of Congo | 17.2% | 34 | 164 | 198 |
| Canada | 36.1% | 57 | 101 | 158 |
| Mauritania | 1.4% | 2 | 139 | 141 |
| China | 18.3% | 20 | 89 | 109 |
| Guyana | 21.7% | 23 | 83 | 106 |
| Ghana | 20.0% | 15 | 60 | 75 |
| Nigeria | 37.0% | 27 | 46 | 73 |
| Guinea | 19.7% | 14 | 57 | 71 |
| Pakistan | 26.1% | 18 | 51 | 69 |
| Somalia | 43.6% | 24 | 31 | 55 |
| Senegal | 11.5% | 6 | 46 | 52 |
| Sudan | 30.8% | 16 | 36 | 52 |
| Congo | 41.2% | 21 | 30 | 51 |
| Uzbekistan | 18.0% | 9 | 41 | 50 |
| Cameroon | 66.7% | 32 | 16 | 48 |
| Romania | 6.4% | 3 | 44 | 47 |
| Sierra Leone | 51.1% | 23 | 22 | 45 |
| Chile | 0.0% | 0 | 40 | 40 |
| Ukraine | 70.6% | 24 | 10 | 34 |
| Belarus | 64.5% | 20 | 11 | 31 |
| Yemen | 32.1% | 9 | 19 | 28 |
| Trinidad And Tobago | 18.5% | 5 | 22 | 27 |
| United Kingdom | 32.0% | 8 | 17 | 25 |
| Georgia | 4.3% | 1 | 22 | 23 |
| Iran | 39.1% | 9 | 14 | 23 |
| Vietnam | 9.1% | 2 | 20 | 22 |
| Chad | 0.0% | 0 | 21 | 21 |
| Iraq | 80.0% | 16 | 4 | 20 |
| Costa Rica | 0.0% | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| Ethiopia | 40.0% | 8 | 12 | 20 |
| Jordan | 0.0% | 0 | 19 | 19 |
| Turkmenistan | 13.3% | 2 | 13 | 15 |
| Burma (Myanmar) | 35.7% | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| Liberia | 42.9% | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| Bolivia | 0.0% | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Eritrea | 53.8% | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Syria | 0.0% | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Armenia | 9.1% | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| Nepal | 60.0% | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Morocco | 10.0% | 1 | 9 | 10 |
| Moldavia (Moldova) | 50.0% | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Philippines | 0.0% | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Italy | 0.0% | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Unknown Nationality | 14.3% | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Egypt | 0.0% | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Palestine | 100.0% | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Albania | 60.0% | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Burkina Faso | 60.0% | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Tajikistan (Tadzhik) | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Panama | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Belize | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Argentina | 0.0% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan) | 33.3% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Benin | 0.0% | 0 | 1 | 1 |