Immigration court
Chicago, IL Immigration Court
53 judges · IL
EOIR data through Oct 1, 2026 · updated monthly
- 34,459
- Granted
- 172,646
- Denied
- 53
- Judges
Distribution
How this court's judges compare
At Chicago, IL, 52 judges range from 0.0% to 62.6%.
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): Chicago, IL Immigration Court granted asylum in 4.5% of 65,020 decided cases. That is lower than the court's all-time rate of 16.6% (207,105 decided cases). Over the same months, the national rate was 5.0%.
What people ask about Chicago, IL 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 and ICE arrest records.
Which judges at Chicago, IL Immigration Court grant asylum most often?
Among the 34 judges at this court with at least 25 decided asylum cases in Oct 2024 – Sep 2026, the highest grant rates were: Robin J. Rosche, 53.3% of 60 decided; Sebastian T. Patti, 28.6% of 266 decided; and Kaarina Salovaara, 24.6% of 118 decided. The median judge among them granted 7.2%.
What is the asylum grant rate at Chicago, IL Immigration Court?
In Oct 2024 – Sep 2026, the court granted asylum in 4.5% of 65,020 decided cases (grants plus denials). Across all years in EOIR data, it granted 16.6% of 207,105 decided cases. Over the same recent months, the national rate was 5.0%.
How many ICE arrests are recorded in Chicago, Illinois?
ICE recorded 2,988 arrests in Chicago, Illinois from Aug 2025 to Jul 2026, 290 of them in Jul 2026. The highest month in these records, which start in Oct 2022, was Oct 2025 with 935. These are arrests anywhere in the city, not only at the immigration court.
How long is the wait from the first hearing to the individual hearing at Chicago, IL Immigration Court?
For cases at this court whose first individual hearing was held in Oct 2025 – Sep 2026, the median time from the first master calendar hearing to that individual hearing was about 25 months. Cases still waiting for an individual hearing are not counted, so this is a floor, not an estimate for any one case.
How often does Chicago, IL Immigration Court grant motions?
Across all years of EOIR motion records for this court, the most common decided motions were: Motion for Change of Venue, granted in 94.2% of 64,132; Motion to Withdraw as Counsel, granted in 91.2% of 37,749; and Motion for Continuance, granted in 65.2% of 33,152. The rate counts every decided motion, including outcomes other than granted or denied.
How to Interpret This Court's Data
Court-level statistics aggregate the judges and cases assigned to the Chicago, IL Immigration Court, so the court average can differ sharply from any one judge's profile.
High-volume judge profiles at this court include Vinikoor, Robert D. (36,065 total cases), Fujimoto, James R. (34,157 total cases), and Bryant, John Milo (31,116 total cases). The largest nationality groups shown for this court (fiscal years 2020–2026) include Mexico (19,519 decided, 9.6% grant rate), Venezuela (15,324 decided, 6.7% grant rate), and Nicaragua (12,790 decided, 5.8% 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.
What This Court Profile's Data Shows
This profile ranks #6 by published decided outcomes among 74 courts with at least 5,000 decisions (207,105 outcomes).
Its 16.6% historical rate is 6.7 percentage points above the 9.9% median for those 74 courts.
The largest published nationality row is Mexico: 19,519 decisions and a 9.6% grant rate in the nationality subset's stated scope.
These are descriptive historical aggregates. Court mix, judge assignment, representation, case facts, procedural posture, and changes in law are not controlled here, so the comparisons cannot predict an individual case.
Areas Served by This Court
Based on the official EOIR ZIP-code assignment, the Chicago, IL Immigration Court is the assigned filing location for 2,825 ZIP codes. Main cities by state:
IL — Chicago, Peoria, Rockford, Springfield, East Saint Louis, Aurora, Joliet, Belleville, Decatur, Evanston, Naperville, Schaumburg, Bloomington, Carbondale, Champaign and 1242 more cities
IN — Fort Wayne, South Bend, Evansville, Bloomington, Terre Haute, Muncie, Lafayette, Elkhart, Goshen, Kokomo, Marion, Mishawaka, Warsaw, West Lafayette, Advance and 576 more cities
WI — Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Racine, Appleton, Kenosha, Janesville, Oshkosh, Waukesha, Brookfield, Eau Claire, Fond Du Lac, La Crosse, Mequon, New Berlin and 693 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vinikoor, Robert D. | 17.5% | 4,491 | 21,160 | 25,651 |
| Fujimoto, James R. | 13.0% | 3,129 | 21,013 | 24,142 |
| Bryant, John Milo | 26.9% | 5,775 | 15,719 | 21,494 |
| Zerbe, Craig M. | 18.9% | 2,978 | 12,772 | 15,750 |
| Brahos, O. John | 20.6% | 3,280 | 12,615 | 15,895 |
| Cuevas, Carlos | 26.6% | 3,719 | 10,280 | 13,999 |
| Klein, Eliza | 29.2% | 3,767 | 9,146 | 12,913 |
| Chew, George T. | 62.6% | 6,563 | 3,924 | 10,487 |
| Katsivalis, George P. | 0.9% | 110 | 12,273 | 12,383 |
| Mckenna, Patrick M. | 8.1% | 749 | 8,450 | 9,199 |
| Petrone, Anthony D., JR. | 58.4% | 3,310 | 2,360 | 5,670 |
| Smith, Renetta | 23.5% | 1,627 | 5,296 | 6,923 |
| Anderson, Jack L. | 10.0% | 504 | 4,547 | 5,051 |
| Venci, Michelle | 4.1% | 266 | 6,266 | 6,532 |
| Klosowsky, Michael | 7.9% | 491 | 5,758 | 6,249 |
| Defoe, Craig A. | 12.4% | 724 | 5,135 | 5,859 |
| Kim, Peter A. | 5.2% | 329 | 6,048 | 6,377 |
| Crites, Elizabeth | 9.4% | 463 | 4,454 | 4,917 |
| Stahl, Marc | 14.4% | 856 | 5,104 | 5,960 |
| Mencini, Ana | 6.0% | 341 | 5,372 | 5,713 |
| Curran, Brendan C. | 5.0% | 274 | 5,167 | 5,441 |
| Luskin, Joshua D. | 13.9% | 633 | 3,928 | 4,561 |
| Reynolds, Gina | 12.4% | 578 | 4,083 | 4,661 |
| Dimarzio, Philip L. | 15.0% | 597 | 3,379 | 3,976 |
| Owens, Robert P. | 32.1% | 1,310 | 2,773 | 4,083 |
| Saltzman, Eva S. | 29.8% | 980 | 2,304 | 3,284 |
| Naseem, Samia | 14.2% | 595 | 3,590 | 4,185 |
| Cole, Samuel B. | 23.0% | 642 | 2,149 | 2,791 |
| Mcnulty, Sheila | 19.2% | 633 | 2,672 | 3,305 |
| Rosche, Robin J. | 26.3% | 705 | 1,975 | 2,680 |
| Peyton, Jennifer I. | 43.9% | 1,113 | 1,422 | 2,535 |
| Treacy, Elizabeth | 9.9% | 307 | 2,797 | 3,104 |
| Patti, Sebastian T. | 33.0% | 801 | 1,625 | 2,426 |
| Der-Yeghiayan, Samuel | 9.9% | 258 | 2,346 | 2,604 |
| Diaz, Irma | 8.1% | 223 | 2,534 | 2,757 |
| Beese, Matthew C. | 0.6% | 15 | 2,661 | 2,676 |
| Salovaara, Kaarina | 26.2% | 565 | 1,590 | 2,155 |
| Quiros, Ana Lorena. | 8.0% | 203 | 2,323 | 2,526 |
| Bower, Glen L. | 41.5% | 593 | 836 | 1,429 |
| Espinoza, Carla | 14.7% | 210 | 1,220 | 1,430 |
| Barilla, Jody | 14.0% | 190 | 1,163 | 1,353 |
| Fluhr, Philip | 11.5% | 113 | 872 | 985 |
| Nelson, Kristi | 7.3% | 84 | 1,062 | 1,146 |
| Abraham, Shawn J. | 0.0% | 0 | 860 | 860 |
| Baldini-Potermin, Maria | 21.0% | 89 | 334 | 423 |
| Flesch, Kenneth | 1.2% | 7 | 582 | 589 |
| Yokoyama, Lori | 5.8% | 24 | 389 | 413 |
| Poarch, Jaime | 0.7% | 3 | 430 | 433 |
| Vyas, Akash | 5.2% | 16 | 289 | 305 |
| Perkins, Robbin | 0.7% | 3 | 423 | 426 |
| Charanza, Albert | 1.2% | 4 | 329 | 333 |
| Harrell, Stephen W. | 3.0% | 8 | 263 | 271 |
| Petty, Aaron R. | 46.2% | 6 | 7 | 13 |
Roster entries without a usable profile denominator: Status Docket, Visiting Judge 23, IAD Judge. They are excluded from the rate table above.
Approval Rate by Nationality
Fiscal years 2020–2026 (Oct 2019 – Sep 2026).
| Nationality | Approval Rate | Granted | Denied | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 9.6% | 1,873 | 17,646 | 19,519 |
| Venezuela | 6.7% | 1,030 | 14,294 | 15,324 |
| Nicaragua | 5.8% | 740 | 12,050 | 12,790 |
| Guatemala | 4.4% | 423 | 9,268 | 9,691 |
| Honduras | 6.9% | 623 | 8,432 | 9,055 |
| Colombia | 3.2% | 224 | 6,680 | 6,904 |
| Ecuador | 2.0% | 100 | 4,977 | 5,077 |
| El Salvador | 19.7% | 351 | 1,433 | 1,784 |
| Russia | 49.1% | 852 | 882 | 1,734 |
| India | 17.2% | 222 | 1,065 | 1,287 |
| Haiti | 3.5% | 38 | 1,042 | 1,080 |
| Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan) | 27.6% | 266 | 697 | 963 |
| China | 47.7% | 445 | 487 | 932 |
| Nigeria | 52.1% | 428 | 394 | 822 |
| Peru | 2.9% | 23 | 783 | 806 |
| Turkey | 30.2% | 123 | 284 | 407 |
| Cuba | 21.4% | 75 | 276 | 351 |
| Moldavia (Moldova) | 73.7% | 233 | 83 | 316 |
| Jordan | 28.7% | 88 | 219 | 307 |
| Romania | 15.8% | 48 | 256 | 304 |
| Vietnam | 39.6% | 113 | 172 | 285 |
| Dominican Republic | 5.6% | 14 | 235 | 249 |
| Ukraine | 56.6% | 112 | 86 | 198 |
| Belize | 8.8% | 16 | 165 | 181 |
| Mauritania | 10.6% | 19 | 160 | 179 |
| Poland | 50.0% | 85 | 85 | 170 |
| Brazil | 4.9% | 8 | 154 | 162 |
| Pakistan | 56.2% | 91 | 71 | 162 |
| Uzbekistan | 18.8% | 30 | 130 | 160 |
| Somalia | 21.2% | 33 | 123 | 156 |
| Chile | 5.2% | 8 | 147 | 155 |
| Kazakhstan | 38.6% | 59 | 94 | 153 |
| Belarus | 70.9% | 105 | 43 | 148 |
| Mongolia | 42.6% | 55 | 74 | 129 |
| Philippines | 48.8% | 59 | 62 | 121 |
| Senegal | 11.3% | 13 | 102 | 115 |
| Cameroon | 76.4% | 84 | 26 | 110 |
| Iraq | 73.1% | 79 | 29 | 108 |
| Syria | 70.4% | 76 | 32 | 108 |
| Afghanistan | 38.8% | 40 | 63 | 103 |
| Ghana | 45.9% | 45 | 53 | 98 |
| Angola | 18.2% | 16 | 72 | 88 |
| Serbia Montenegro | 51.8% | 43 | 40 | 83 |
| Democratic Republic Of Congo | 45.5% | 35 | 42 | 77 |
| Jamaica | 21.9% | 16 | 57 | 73 |
| Egypt | 60.6% | 43 | 28 | 71 |
| Stateless - Alien Unable To Name A Country | 37.7% | 23 | 38 | 61 |
| Tajikistan (Tadzhik) | 46.6% | 27 | 31 | 58 |
| Burma (Myanmar) | 60.7% | 34 | 22 | 56 |
| Sudan | 42.3% | 22 | 30 | 52 |
| Kenya | 42.0% | 21 | 29 | 50 |
| Unknown Nationality | 6.0% | 3 | 47 | 50 |
| Panama | 10.2% | 5 | 44 | 49 |
| Togo | 60.4% | 29 | 19 | 48 |
| Georgia | 36.2% | 17 | 30 | 47 |
| Bolivia | 8.5% | 4 | 43 | 47 |
| Congo | 34.1% | 15 | 29 | 44 |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 46.5% | 20 | 23 | 43 |
| Ethiopia | 81.4% | 35 | 8 | 43 |
| Bulgaria | 40.5% | 17 | 25 | 42 |
| Lithuania | 78.6% | 33 | 9 | 42 |
| Sri Lanka | 37.8% | 14 | 23 | 37 |
| Laos | 42.9% | 15 | 20 | 35 |
| Montenegro | 35.3% | 12 | 22 | 34 |
| Israel | 54.5% | 18 | 15 | 33 |
| Guinea | 54.8% | 17 | 14 | 31 |
| Thailand | 48.3% | 14 | 15 | 29 |
| Costa Rica | 10.3% | 3 | 26 | 29 |
| Serbia | 20.7% | 6 | 23 | 29 |
| Macedonia | 60.7% | 17 | 11 | 28 |
| United Kingdom | 17.9% | 5 | 23 | 28 |
| Canada | 7.7% | 2 | 24 | 26 |
| Iran | 28.0% | 7 | 18 | 25 |
| Uganda | 79.2% | 19 | 5 | 24 |
| Argentina | 8.7% | 2 | 21 | 23 |
| Morocco | 36.4% | 8 | 14 | 22 |
| Albania | 59.1% | 13 | 9 | 22 |
| Spain | 4.5% | 1 | 21 | 22 |
| South Africa | 42.9% | 9 | 12 | 21 |
| Turkmenistan | 9.5% | 2 | 19 | 21 |
| Niger | 31.6% | 6 | 13 | 19 |
| Saudi Arabia | 42.1% | 8 | 11 | 19 |
| Indonesia | 38.9% | 7 | 11 | 18 |
| Eritrea | 93.8% | 15 | 1 | 16 |
| Yemen | 66.7% | 10 | 5 | 15 |
| Burkina Faso | 53.3% | 8 | 7 | 15 |
| Zimbabwe | 71.4% | 10 | 4 | 14 |
| Nepal | 33.3% | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| Benin | 8.3% | 1 | 11 | 12 |
| Gambia | 50.0% | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Greece | 0.0% | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Libya | 20.0% | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Chad | 0.0% | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Germany | 0.0% | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Yugoslavia | 66.7% | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| Palestine | 100.0% | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Rwanda | 55.6% | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Azerbaijan | 11.1% | 1 | 8 | 9 |
| Dominica | 0.0% | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Czech Republic | 75.0% | 6 | 2 | 8 |
| Lebanon | 50.0% | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Algeria | 50.0% | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| South Korea | 0.0% | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Unknown Country | 50.0% | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivoire) | 66.7% | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Guadeloupe | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Mali | 80.0% | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Italy | 20.0% | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Sierra Leone | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Bangladesh | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Ireland | 25.0% | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Liberia | 25.0% | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Malawi | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Taiwan | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Zambia | 25.0% | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| CX | 33.3% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Kosovo | 100.0% | 1 | 0 | 1 |