Judge Factor, Samuel M.

25.0%

Approval Rate

573

Granted

2,109

Denied

2,682

Total Decided

Judge Factor, Samuel M. serves at the New York City, NY Immigration Court. With an asylum approval rate of 25.0%, 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 Factor (New York City, NY) data snapshot: Overall rate fell from 31% to 5% in 3 years

A few numbers worth knowing if you have a hearing in front of Judge Factor, Samuel M. (IJ code SAF, New York City, NY):

Overall track record

34 years on the bench (since 1993), 4,409 cases total, lifetime grant rate 24.0%

Last 3 years (2023–2026): 2,581 cases, grant rate 13.1% — 8.5pp below the New York City court average (21.7%)

Nationality breakdown (2023–2026 cumulative)

Nationality / Cases / Grant rate
Ecuador                528    2.0%
China                  260   49.8%
Venezuela              218    2.4%
Colombia               194    0.0%
Guatemala              127    3.5%
India                  113   21.9%
Honduras               105    6.5%
Mexico                 102   29.9%
Dominican Republic      93    3.6%
Peru                    78    0.0%
El Salvador             74    8.2%

Year-by-year

2023:  432 cases, 31.1% grant rate
2024:  652 cases, 14.7% grant rate
2025:  895 cases, 9.5% grant rate
2026:  602 cases, 4.7% grant rate

If you've appeared before Judge Factor, 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

Factor, Samuel M. is listed with the New York City, NY Immigration Court. The headline asylum grant rate shown here is 25.0% 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 (537 decided, 7.8% grant rate), China (386 decided, 57.3% grant rate), and Venezuela (197 decided, 3.6% 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	7.8%	42	495	537
China	57.3%	221	165	386
Venezuela	3.6%	7	190	197
Colombia	1.1%	2	182	184
Guatemala	11.1%	17	136	153
India	31.5%	39	85	124
Honduras	6.7%	8	112	120
Mexico	35.3%	41	75	116
El Salvador	14.1%	13	79	92
Bangladesh	60.9%	56	36	92
Dominican Republic	9.1%	8	80	88
Peru	2.7%	2	71	73
Nicaragua	0.0%	0	42	42
Haiti	10.8%	4	33	37
Uzbekistan	5.6%	2	34	36
Russia	15.2%	5	28	33
Nepal	11.1%	3	24	27
Chad	0.0%	0	26	26
Jamaica	23.8%	5	16	21
Albania	73.7%	14	5	19
Guinea	26.3%	5	14	19
Soviet Union	72.2%	13	5	18
Kosovo	61.1%	11	7	18
Georgia	16.7%	3	15	18
Senegal	11.1%	2	16	18
Nigeria	76.5%	13	4	17
Turkey	17.6%	3	14	17
Pakistan	26.7%	4	11	15
Romania	6.7%	1	14	15
United Kingdom	0.0%	0	14	14
Burkina Faso	45.5%	5	6	11
Mauritania	0.0%	0	11	11
Sri Lanka	20.0%	2	8	10
Afghanistan	0.0%	0	9	9
Dominica	0.0%	0	7	7
Morocco	0.0%	0	7	7
Ireland	0.0%	0	7	7
Kazakhstan	83.3%	5	1	6
Guyana	50.0%	3	3	6
Ghana	40.0%	2	3	5
Egypt	100.0%	4	0	4
Yemen	100.0%	4	0	4
United Arab Emirates	0.0%	0	4	4
Paraguay	0.0%	0	4	4
Israel	0.0%	0	3	3
Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan)	100.0%	3	0	3
Indonesia	0.0%	0	3	3
Ukraine	0.0%	0	2	2
Brazil	0.0%	0	2	2
Trinidad And Tobago	0.0%	0	1	1
Mali	100.0%	1	0	1

Yearly Trends

Year	Approval Rate	Granted	Denied	Decided
2026	4.6%	16	330	346
2025	9.5%	76	726	802
2024	14.7%	85	495	580
2023	31.1%	113	250	363
2022	52.3%	181	165	346
2021	66.7%	48	24	72
2020	32.8%	117	240	357

Community Discussion

Judge Factor (New York City, NY) data snapshot: Overall rate fell from 31% to 5% in 3 years

How to Interpret These Judge Statistics

Approval Rate by Nationality

Yearly Trends

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