Immigration Judge at Phoenix, AZ
Judge Karlen, Melissa Beth serves at the Phoenix, AZ Immigration Court. With an asylum approval rate of 11.9%, this judge is below average compared to the national average. Data sourced from EOIR (Executive Office for Immigration Review).
Karlen, Melissa Beth is listed with the Phoenix, AZ Immigration Court. The headline asylum grant rate shown here is 11.9% based on granted and denied asylum decisions represented in the current dataset.
Among the largest nationality groups shown for this judge, the table highlights Mexico (1,211 decided, 13.0% grant rate), Guatemala (389 decided, 1.3% grant rate), and Venezuela (174 decided, 12.1% 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 Other procedural outcomes, including terminated, withdrawn, administratively closed, or removed cases, are tracked separately where available and are not treated as asylum grants.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.
| Nationality | Approval Rate | Granted | Denied | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 13.0% | 158 | 1,053 | 1,211 |
| Guatemala | 1.3% | 5 | 384 | 389 |
| Venezuela | 12.1% | 21 | 153 | 174 |
| Honduras | 3.8% | 5 | 127 | 132 |
| Nicaragua | 12.0% | 12 | 88 | 100 |
| Colombia | 9.1% | 7 | 70 | 77 |
| El Salvador | 7.9% | 3 | 35 | 38 |
| Cuba | 2.9% | 1 | 33 | 34 |
| Romania | 25.0% | 8 | 24 | 32 |
| Peru | 4.2% | 1 | 23 | 24 |
| Turkey | 26.3% | 5 | 14 | 19 |
| Ecuador | 0.0% | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Afghanistan | 0.0% | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| China | 71.4% | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Russia | 100.0% | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Iraq | 100.0% | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Nigeria | 50.0% | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| India | 40.0% | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Bangladesh | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Congo | 100.0% | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Pakistan | 50.0% | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Democratic Republic Of Congo | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Brazil | 100.0% | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Dominican Republic | 0.0% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Canada | 0.0% | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Year | Approval Rate | Granted | Denied | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 1.7% | 5 | 292 | 297 |
| 2025 | 9.6% | 64 | 605 | 669 |
| 2024 | 12.0% | 78 | 573 | 651 |
| 2023 | 14.6% | 51 | 298 | 349 |
| 2022 | 29.1% | 37 | 90 | 127 |
| 2021 | 26.6% | 37 | 102 | 139 |
| 2020 | 10.8% | 19 | 157 | 176 |