Judge Simmons, Gregory L.

Immigration Judge at Santa Ana, CA

12.2%

Approval Rate

280

Granted

2,181

Denied

2,461

Total Decided

Judge Simmons, Gregory L. serves at the Santa Ana, CA Immigration Court. With an asylum approval rate of 12.2%, 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 Simmons (Santa Ana, CA) data snapshot: Overall rate fell from 11% to 1% in 3 years

A few numbers worth knowing if you have a hearing in front of Judge Simmons, Gregory L. (IJ code GSS, Santa Ana, CA):

Overall track record

7 years on the bench (since 2020), 3,320 cases total, lifetime grant rate 11.3%

Last 3 years (2023–2026): 2,531 cases, grant rate 5.7% — 3.8pp below the Santa Ana court average (9.5%)

Nationality breakdown (2023–2026 cumulative)

Nationality / Cases / Grant rate
Mexico                 653    4.8%
Guatemala              527    0.3%
Colombia               232    0.0%
Nicaragua              222    2.4%
Honduras               153    0.0%
Venezuela              149    0.7%
El Salvador            125    0.0%
China                  107   23.3%
Peru                    71    1.5%
India                   54    0.0%
Romania                 38    0.0%

Year-by-year

2023:  275 cases, 11.4% grant rate
2024:  438 cases, 8.8% grant rate
2025: 1087 cases, 5.4% grant rate
2026:  731 cases, 1.5% grant rate

If you've appeared before Judge Simmons, 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

Simmons, Gregory L. is listed with the Santa Ana, CA Immigration Court. The headline asylum grant rate shown here is 12.2% based on granted and denied asylum decisions represented in the current dataset.

Among the largest nationality groups shown for this judge, the table highlights Mexico (658 decided, 11.9% grant rate), Guatemala (549 decided, 7.7% grant rate), and Nicaragua (222 decided, 7.7% 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
Mexico	11.9%	78	580	658
Guatemala	7.7%	42	507	549
Nicaragua	7.7%	17	205	222
Colombia	0.0%	0	183	183
Honduras	8.4%	15	163	178
El Salvador	13.1%	21	139	160
China	28.0%	28	72	100
Venezuela	0.0%	0	100	100
India	15.9%	13	69	82
Peru	5.8%	4	65	69
Romania	0.0%	0	38	38
Russia	80.0%	24	6	30
Egypt	64.3%	9	5	14
Iran	84.6%	11	2	13
Ecuador	0.0%	0	11	11
Nepal	62.5%	5	3	8
Vietnam	12.5%	1	7	8
Turkey	0.0%	0	7	7
Kazakhstan	0.0%	0	5	5
Nigeria	100.0%	5	0	5
Comoro Islands	0.0%	0	4	4
Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan)	0.0%	0	4	4
Ukraine	100.0%	3	0	3
Afghanistan	0.0%	0	3	3
Belarus	100.0%	3	0	3
Cuba	0.0%	0	2	2
Syria	50.0%	1	1	2

Yearly Trends

Year	Approval Rate	Granted	Denied	Decided
2026	2.1%	8	370	378
2025	5.4%	44	776	820
2024	8.8%	36	372	408
2023	11.4%	30	233	263
2022	17.0%	15	73	88
2021	31.8%	41	88	129
2020	30.0%	136	318	454