Immigration court
El Paso, TX Immigration Court
23 judges · TX
EOIR data through Oct 1, 2026 · updated monthly
- 7,620
- Granted
- 69,664
- Denied
- 23
- Judges
Distribution
How this court's judges compare
At El Paso, TX, 21 judges range from 0.3% to 17.5%.
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): El Paso, TX Immigration Court granted asylum in 1.8% of 14,138 decided cases. That is lower than the court's all-time rate of 9.9% (77,284 decided cases). Over the same months, the national rate was 5.0%.
What people ask about El Paso, TX 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.
What is the asylum grant rate at El Paso, TX Immigration Court?
In Oct 2024 – Sep 2026, the court granted asylum in 1.8% of 14,138 decided cases (grants plus denials). Across all years in EOIR data, it granted 9.9% of 77,284 decided cases. Over the same recent months, the national rate was 5.0%.
How many ICE arrests are recorded in El Paso, Texas?
ICE recorded 3,177 arrests in El Paso, Texas from Aug 2025 to Jul 2026, 286 of them in Jul 2026. The highest month in these records, which start in Oct 2022, was Jun 2026 with 754. These are arrests anywhere in the city, not only at the immigration court.
Which judges at El Paso, TX Immigration Court grant asylum most often?
Among the 18 judges at this court with at least 25 decided asylum cases in Oct 2024 – Sep 2026, the highest grant rates were: Daniel J. Gallegos, 9.2% of 120 decided; Steven Meredith, 7.1% of 324 decided; and Shelly W. Schools, 7.0% of 243 decided. The median judge among them granted 1.6%.
How to Interpret This Court's Data
Court-level statistics aggregate the judges and cases assigned to the El Paso, TX Immigration Court, so the court average can differ sharply from any one judge's profile.
High-volume judge profiles at this court include Erwin, R. Lee (18,127 total cases), Hough, Robert S. (14,485 total cases), and Spiegel, Martin F. (13,082 total cases). The largest nationality groups shown for this court (fiscal years 2020–2026) include Venezuela (5,280 decided, 4.9% grant rate), Mexico (5,048 decided, 6.1% grant rate), and Honduras (4,684 decided, 0.2% 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 El Paso, TX Immigration Court is the assigned filing location for 462 ZIP codes. Main cities by state:
NM — Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Farmington, Hobbs, Alamogordo, Gallup, Rio Rancho, Roswell, Ruidoso, Abiquiu, Alcalde, Algodones, Alto, Amalia and 319 more cities
TX — El Paso, Odessa, Midland, Alpine, Fort Bliss, Ackerly, Andrews, Anthony, Balmorhea, Barstow, Big Bend National Park, Canutillo, Clint, Coyanosa, Crane and 42 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erwin, R. Lee | 16.8% | 2,296 | 11,374 | 13,670 |
| Hough, Robert S. | 11.0% | 1,166 | 9,455 | 10,621 |
| Spiegel, Martin F. | 10.9% | 988 | 8,078 | 9,066 |
| Herbert, Nathan L. | 1.4% | 109 | 7,604 | 7,713 |
| Miller, Jr. James J. | 2.3% | 132 | 5,618 | 5,750 |
| Bonilla, Judith F. | 5.9% | 183 | 2,914 | 3,097 |
| Razo, Danny | 3.3% | 103 | 2,976 | 3,079 |
| Allen, Janette L. | 17.5% | 373 | 1,764 | 2,137 |
| Dean, Larry R. | 7.2% | 137 | 1,770 | 1,907 |
| Holguin, Enrique A. | 2.1% | 37 | 1,716 | 1,753 |
| Schools, Shelly W. | 12.9% | 181 | 1,217 | 1,398 |
| Paredes Velasco, Adrian F. | 5.1% | 70 | 1,301 | 1,371 |
| Myers, Kyle | 2.5% | 25 | 973 | 998 |
| Martinez, Susanna | 0.3% | 2 | 646 | 648 |
| Thedy, Tod M. | 0.3% | 2 | 602 | 604 |
| Jiron, Graciela | 0.9% | 4 | 456 | 460 |
| Malainy, Vincent | 0.7% | 3 | 401 | 404 |
| Meredith, Steven | 7.1% | 23 | 301 | 324 |
| Osterberg, Michael M. | 1.4% | 5 | 365 | 370 |
| Diaz, Jaime | 1.1% | 4 | 347 | 351 |
| Gallegos, Daniel J. | 9.2% | 11 | 109 | 120 |
| Lettunich, Brandon | 0.0% | 0 | 78 | 78 |
| Hackert, Marissa | 1.4% | 1 | 71 | 72 |
Approval Rate by Nationality
Fiscal years 2020–2026 (Oct 2019 – Sep 2026).
| Nationality | Approval Rate | Granted | Denied | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venezuela | 4.9% | 260 | 5,020 | 5,280 |
| Mexico | 6.1% | 306 | 4,742 | 5,048 |
| Honduras | 0.2% | 10 | 4,674 | 4,684 |
| Guatemala | 0.4% | 19 | 4,508 | 4,527 |
| Ecuador | 0.1% | 2 | 3,471 | 3,473 |
| Turkey | 2.0% | 50 | 2,462 | 2,512 |
| Cuba | 5.4% | 121 | 2,138 | 2,259 |
| Nicaragua | 2.2% | 43 | 1,886 | 1,929 |
| Colombia | 0.6% | 11 | 1,839 | 1,850 |
| El Salvador | 0.5% | 7 | 1,486 | 1,493 |
| Brazil | 0.0% | 0 | 459 | 459 |
| Peru | 2.6% | 10 | 375 | 385 |
| Haiti | 0.0% | 0 | 231 | 231 |
| Dominican Republic | 0.6% | 1 | 165 | 166 |
| Nigeria | 36.5% | 23 | 40 | 63 |
| Sri Lanka | 0.0% | 0 | 58 | 58 |
| Bolivia | 0.0% | 0 | 48 | 48 |
| Cameroon | 63.6% | 28 | 16 | 44 |
| China | 30.8% | 12 | 27 | 39 |
| Vietnam | 19.4% | 7 | 29 | 36 |
| Russia | 44.8% | 13 | 16 | 29 |
| Belize | 0.0% | 0 | 26 | 26 |
| Panama | 0.0% | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| Afghanistan | 13.0% | 3 | 20 | 23 |
| Unknown Nationality | 0.0% | 0 | 22 | 22 |
| India | 10.5% | 2 | 17 | 19 |
| Iran | 28.6% | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| Chile | 0.0% | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Jamaica | 0.0% | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Chad | 0.0% | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Guadeloupe | 0.0% | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Costa Rica | 14.3% | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Portugal | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Spain | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Ghana | 50.0% | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Philippines | 25.0% | 1 | 3 | 4 |