Immigration court
Santa Ana, CA Immigration Court
23 judges · CA
EOIR data through Oct 1, 2026 · updated monthly
- 5,408
- Granted
- 52,372
- Denied
- 23
- Judges
Distribution
How this court's judges compare
At Santa Ana, CA, 22 judges range from 0.0% to 22.4%.
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): Santa Ana, CA Immigration Court granted asylum in 4.6% of 36,740 decided cases. That is lower than the court's all-time rate of 9.4% (57,780 decided cases). Over the same months, the national rate was 5.0%.
What people ask about Santa Ana, CA 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 Santa Ana, CA Immigration Court grant asylum most often?
Among the 22 judges at this court with at least 25 decided asylum cases in Oct 2024 – Sep 2026, the highest grant rates were: Jason R. Waterloo, 23.8% of 239 decided; Joyce Noche, 8.3% of 2,183 decided; and Terese Tadros-Ibarra, 7.4% of 1,710 decided. The median judge among them granted 3.9%.
What is the asylum grant rate at Santa Ana, CA Immigration Court?
In Oct 2024 – Sep 2026, the court granted asylum in 4.6% of 36,740 decided cases (grants plus denials). Across all years in EOIR data, it granted 9.4% of 57,780 decided cases. Over the same recent months, the national rate was 5.0%.
How to Interpret This Court's Data
Court-level statistics aggregate the judges and cases assigned to the Santa Ana, CA Immigration Court, so the court average can differ sharply from any one judge's profile.
High-volume judge profiles at this court include Francis, Leon J. (4,818 total cases), Hsu, Lily C (4,726 total cases), and Hom, Howard C. (4,259 total cases). The largest nationality groups shown for this court (fiscal years 2020–2026) include Mexico (16,953 decided, 3.6% grant rate), Colombia (6,994 decided, 1.9% grant rate), and Guatemala (6,832 decided, 1.8% 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.
Areas Served by This Court
Based on the official EOIR ZIP-code assignment, the Santa Ana, CA Immigration Court is the assigned filing location for 270 ZIP codes. Main cities by state:
CA — Irvine, Riverside, Anaheim, San Bernardino, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Orange, Corona, Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Newport Beach, Rancho Cucamonga, Covina and 155 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Francis, Leon J. | 9.6% | 422 | 3,979 | 4,401 |
| Hsu, Lily C | 10.6% | 465 | 3,903 | 4,368 |
| Hom, Howard C. | 14.7% | 574 | 3,323 | 3,897 |
| Rothschild, Jerome M., JR. | 9.1% | 339 | 3,393 | 3,732 |
| Piepmeier, Kristin | 2.9% | 107 | 3,522 | 3,629 |
| Fishkin, Andrew | 14.7% | 512 | 2,968 | 3,480 |
| Walker, Nathaniel B. | 7.1% | 240 | 3,137 | 3,377 |
| Simmons, Gregory L. | 10.7% | 325 | 2,714 | 3,039 |
| Norregard, Aggie | 5.5% | 177 | 3,024 | 3,201 |
| Noche, Joyce | 14.4% | 447 | 2,667 | 3,114 |
| Huang, Jonathan | 5.6% | 170 | 2,891 | 3,061 |
| Lee, Wilbur | 7.4% | 196 | 2,463 | 2,659 |
| Ghasri, Iman | 8.1% | 229 | 2,613 | 2,842 |
| Tadros-Ibarra, Terese | 13.5% | 346 | 2,225 | 2,571 |
| McFadden, Anita | 7.4% | 195 | 2,446 | 2,641 |
| Waterloo, Jason R. | 22.4% | 432 | 1,497 | 1,929 |
| Libeu, Heather | 6.8% | 137 | 1,866 | 2,003 |
| McNary, Christopher D. | 8.7% | 136 | 1,436 | 1,572 |
| Wells, Nicole I. | 5.0% | 13 | 245 | 258 |
| Stephan, Paul E. | 0.0% | 0 | 246 | 246 |
| Fan, Terexa | 0.4% | 1 | 236 | 237 |
| Margolin, Daren K. | 11.7% | 22 | 166 | 188 |
| Hong, James | 2.8% | 1 | 35 | 36 |
Roster entries without a usable profile denominator: Visiting Judge 16, Visiting Judge 19, Visiting Judge 21, Visiting Judge 22, Visiting Judge 26, Visiting Judge 18, Visiting Judge 28. 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 | 3.6% | 612 | 16,341 | 16,953 |
| Colombia | 1.9% | 131 | 6,863 | 6,994 |
| Guatemala | 1.8% | 124 | 6,708 | 6,832 |
| Nicaragua | 6.5% | 401 | 5,768 | 6,169 |
| China | 36.3% | 1,190 | 2,089 | 3,279 |
| Venezuela | 4.1% | 100 | 2,359 | 2,459 |
| Honduras | 2.2% | 49 | 2,187 | 2,236 |
| El Salvador | 5.7% | 122 | 2,024 | 2,146 |
| Peru | 1.7% | 35 | 1,988 | 2,023 |
| India | 18.2% | 347 | 1,556 | 1,903 |
| Russia | 48.6% | 637 | 675 | 1,312 |
| Romania | 1.7% | 14 | 812 | 826 |
| Ecuador | 0.8% | 5 | 634 | 639 |
| Egypt | 70.7% | 280 | 116 | 396 |
| Turkey | 40.1% | 132 | 197 | 329 |
| Iran | 75.8% | 226 | 72 | 298 |
| Vietnam | 13.5% | 30 | 192 | 222 |
| Indonesia | 62.2% | 130 | 79 | 209 |
| Syria | 52.6% | 91 | 82 | 173 |
| Philippines | 27.3% | 41 | 109 | 150 |
| Jordan | 25.2% | 34 | 101 | 135 |
| Kazakhstan | 31.9% | 38 | 81 | 119 |
| Cuba | 14.9% | 17 | 97 | 114 |
| Afghanistan | 28.3% | 32 | 81 | 113 |
| Belarus | 75.3% | 73 | 24 | 97 |
| South Korea | 51.2% | 44 | 42 | 86 |
| Brazil | 3.9% | 3 | 74 | 77 |
| Bolivia | 1.5% | 1 | 65 | 66 |
| Nigeria | 31.2% | 20 | 44 | 64 |
| Belize | 8.5% | 5 | 54 | 59 |
| Unknown Nationality | 7.1% | 4 | 52 | 56 |
| Nepal | 22.2% | 12 | 42 | 54 |
| Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan) | 20.8% | 11 | 42 | 53 |
| Iraq | 73.8% | 31 | 11 | 42 |
| Armenia | 10.8% | 4 | 33 | 37 |
| Costa Rica | 2.7% | 1 | 36 | 37 |
| Pakistan | 57.6% | 19 | 14 | 33 |
| Kenya | 46.9% | 15 | 17 | 32 |
| Lebanon | 61.3% | 19 | 12 | 31 |
| Cameroon | 58.6% | 17 | 12 | 29 |
| Comoro Islands | 58.6% | 17 | 12 | 29 |
| Argentina | 3.7% | 1 | 26 | 27 |
| Canada | 26.1% | 6 | 17 | 23 |
| Haiti | 0.0% | 0 | 23 | 23 |
| Tunisia | 59.1% | 13 | 9 | 22 |
| Bangladesh | 66.7% | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| Dominican Republic | 0.0% | 0 | 21 | 21 |
| Stateless - Alien Unable To Name A Country | 90.0% | 18 | 2 | 20 |
| Jamaica | 10.5% | 2 | 17 | 19 |
| Ukraine | 33.3% | 6 | 12 | 18 |
| Sudan | 31.2% | 5 | 11 | 16 |
| Mongolia | 68.8% | 11 | 5 | 16 |
| Chile | 6.2% | 1 | 15 | 16 |
| Thailand | 7.1% | 1 | 13 | 14 |
| Turkmenistan | 64.3% | 9 | 5 | 14 |
| Ethiopia | 61.5% | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| Saudi Arabia | 50.0% | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| Georgia | 8.3% | 1 | 11 | 12 |
| Somalia | 9.1% | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| Azerbaijan | 80.0% | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Panama | 20.0% | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Uzbekistan | 0.0% | 0 | 10 | 10 |
| Eritrea | 44.4% | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| Taiwan | 0.0% | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Morocco | 25.0% | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Ghana | 42.9% | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Spain | 0.0% | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Palestine | 83.3% | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Israel | 0.0% | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Libya | 20.0% | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Angola | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Guadeloupe | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Mauritania | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Sri Lanka | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| South Africa | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| United Kingdom | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Cambodia | 0.0% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Sierra Leone | 0.0% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Guinea | 100.0% | 1 | 0 | 1 |