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Judge Sam Brown, IV

Immigration Judge at Houston, TX

2.5%
Approval Rate
138
Granted
5,494
Denied
5,632
Total Decided

Judge Sam Brown, IV serves at the Houston, TX Immigration Court. With an asylum approval rate of 2.5%, this judge is below average compared to the national average. Data sourced from EOIR (Executive Office for Immigration Review).

Community Discussion

DATA

Judge Brown (Houston, TX) data snapshot: 5,952 cases over 36 years, 2.6% grant rate

A few numbers worth knowing if you have a hearing in front of Judge Brown, Sam, IV (IJ code SBN, Houston, TX):

Overall track record

36 years on the bench (since 1991), 5,952 cases total, lifetime grant rate 2.6%

Last 3 years (2023–2026): 3,406 cases, grant rate 2.2% — roughly in line with the Houston court average (3.8%)

Nationality breakdown (2023–2026 cumulative)

Nationality / Cases / Grant rate
Honduras              1020    0.5%
Mexico                 585    4.7%
Guatemala              443    0.0%
El Salvador            319    2.5%
Venezuela              264    3.5%
Cuba                   204    0.7%
Nicaragua              171    0.6%
Colombia               142    0.0%
Nigeria                 32    8.0%
Peru                    19    0.0%
Ecuador                 15    0.0%

Year-by-year

2023:  808 cases, 2.7% grant rate
2024:  946 cases, 1.2% grant rate
2025: 1042 cases, 2.8% grant rate
2026:  610 cases, 2.2% grant rate

If you've appeared before Judge Brown, 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

Sam Brown, IV is listed with the Houston, TX Immigration Court. The headline asylum grant rate shown here is 2.5% based on granted and denied asylum decisions represented in the current dataset.

Among the largest nationality groups shown for this judge, the table highlights Honduras (1,473 decided, 0.5% grant rate), Mexico (714 decided, 6.3% grant rate), and El Salvador (658 decided, 1.5% 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 2026-07-01. It is for research and information only, not legal advice.

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

Nationality Breakdown

NationalityCasesGrant rate
Honduras 1,473 0.5%
Mexico 714 6.3%
El Salvador 658 1.5%
Guatemala 621 0.0%
Venezuela 322 2.8%
Nicaragua 183 0.5%
Colombia 176 0.6%
Cuba 175 0.6%

Yearly Trends

YearCasesGrant rate
2026 880 1.6%
2025 931 2.8%
2024 903 1.2%
2023 714 2.7%
2022 213 15.0%
2021 25 12.0%
2020 993 1.6%

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Judge Sam Brown, IV's asylum approval rate?

Judge Sam Brown, IV's asylum approval rate is 2.5% according to EOIR FOIA data.

How many asylum cases has Judge Sam Brown, IV decided?

The dataset lists 5,632 total asylum cases for Judge Sam Brown, IV.

How is this approval rate calculated?

The approval rate is calculated as granted divided by (granted + denied). It excludes terminations and withdrawals, and the source is EOIR FOIA data.

Other judges at this court

Peterson, William C. 4.0% approval rate Law, Philip S. 17.5% approval rate Brown, Robert 14.8% approval rate Greenstein, Saul E. 5.3% approval rate Zimmer, William K. 21.7% approval rate Endelman, Gary E. 6.0% approval rate Bhagat, Nimmo 7.1% approval rate Yam, Mimi 17.5% approval rate Luis, Lisa 5.6% approval rate Picos, Georgina M. 5.6% approval rate

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Data from EOIR (U.S. DOJ) · Last updated 2026-07-01
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