Judge Riefkohl, Alberto J.

Immigration Judge at Newark, NJ

29.9%

Approval Rate

729

Granted

2,840

Denied

3,569

Total Decided

Judge Riefkohl, Alberto J. serves at the Newark, NJ Immigration Court. With an asylum approval rate of 29.9%, this judge is below average compared to the national average. Data sourced from EOIR (Executive Office for Immigration Review).

Community Discussion

DATA AsylumTracker Data 2026-05-22

Judge Riefkohl (Newark, NJ) data snapshot: Overall rate fell from 32% to 1% in 3 years

A few numbers worth knowing if you have a hearing in front of Judge Riefkohl, Alberto J. (IJ code AJR, Newark, NJ):

Overall track record

36 years on the bench (since 1991), 22,593 cases total, lifetime grant rate 29.6%

Last 3 years (2023–2026): 3,569 cases, grant rate 14.7% — 3.1pp above the Newark court average (11.6%)

Nationality breakdown (2023–2026 cumulative)

Nationality / Cases / Grant rate
Ecuador                619   22.0%
Brazil                 508   12.6%
Colombia               436    7.0%
Peru                   405    5.4%
Guatemala              263   10.2%
Mexico                 254   23.5%
Honduras               234   10.5%
Haiti                  203   10.4%
Turkey                 121   13.0%
El Salvador             81   22.4%
Cuba                    66    0.0%

Year-by-year

2023:  900 cases, 31.6% grant rate
2024: 1049 cases, 6.5% grant rate
2025: 1258 cases, 14.4% grant rate
2026:  362 cases, 1.3% grant rate

If you've appeared before Judge Riefkohl, I'd love to hear:

1. What's your nationality, and when was your most recent hearing?

2. How did your attorney prepare for this judge specifically?

Source: EOIR (U.S. Executive Office for Immigration Review) public statistics, May 2026 release, compiled by AsylumTracker. A judge's historical pattern does not predict the outcome of any individual case; this is shared to help set realistic expectations. Real-experience accounts from the community are welcome.

Have experience with this judge? Open AsylumTracker to reply or read more responses from the community.

How to Interpret These Judge Statistics

Riefkohl, Alberto J. is listed with the Newark, NJ Immigration Court. The headline asylum grant rate shown here is 29.9% based on granted and denied asylum decisions represented in the current dataset.

Among the largest nationality groups shown for this judge, the table highlights Ecuador (624 decided, 29.3% grant rate), Brazil (508 decided, 13.6% grant rate), and Colombia (403 decided, 8.7% grant rate). Compare these rows with the judge's overall rate because nationality mix can materially change how the headline number should be read.

Grant rate is calculated as granted / (granted + denied). Other procedural outcomes, including terminated, withdrawn, administratively closed, or removed cases, are tracked separately where available and are not treated as asylum grants.

This page is based on public EOIR data last updated 2026-05-08. It is for research and information only, not legal advice.

Read the grant-rate methodology or learn how to read immigration judge statistics.

Approval Rate by Nationality

Nationality	Approval Rate	Granted	Denied	Decided
Ecuador	29.3%	183	441	624
Brazil	13.6%	69	439	508
Colombia	8.7%	35	368	403
Peru	6.6%	26	368	394
Mexico	42.4%	146	198	344
Guatemala	17.5%	56	264	320
Honduras	10.9%	33	269	302
Turkey	11.5%	16	123	139
Haiti	10.3%	11	96	107
El Salvador	24.1%	21	66	87
Dominican Republic	14.0%	8	49	57
India	28.6%	14	35	49
Nicaragua	28.9%	13	32	45
Chile	11.1%	3	24	27
Venezuela	26.3%	5	14	19
China	93.8%	15	1	16
Russia	31.2%	5	11	16
Georgia	60.0%	9	6	15
Costa Rica	30.8%	4	9	13
Nigeria	70.0%	7	3	10
Uzbekistan	100.0%	10	0	10
Egypt	55.6%	5	4	9
Afghanistan	100.0%	9	0	9
Jordan	100.0%	8	0	8
Ghana	20.0%	1	4	5
Ukraine	50.0%	2	2	4
Jamaica	50.0%	2	2	4
Argentina	0.0%	0	4	4
Cuba	33.3%	1	2	3
Bolivia	100.0%	3	0	3
United Kingdom	100.0%	3	0	3
Turkmenistan	0.0%	0	3	3
Burundi	100.0%	3	0	3
Guinea	100.0%	2	0	2
Philippines	50.0%	1	1	2
Burkina Faso	0.0%	0	2	2

Yearly Trends

Year	Approval Rate	Granted	Denied	Decided
2026	1.8%	3	164	167
2025	14.4%	150	889	1,039
2024	6.5%	50	721	771
2023	31.6%	204	442	646
2022	17.9%	107	491	598
2021	82.1%	69	15	84
2020	56.6%	206	158	364