Judge Santos-Garcia, Sandra J.

Immigration Judge at Van Nuys, CA

15.4%

Approval Rate

453

Granted

2,173

Denied

2,626

Total Decided

Judge Santos-Garcia, Sandra J. serves at the Van Nuys, CA Immigration Court. With an asylum approval rate of 15.4%, 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 Santos-Garcia (Van Nuys, CA) data snapshot: Overall rate fell from 28% to 3% in 3 years

A few numbers worth knowing if you have a hearing in front of Judge Santos-Garcia, Sandra J. (IJ code SJS, Van Nuys, CA):

Overall track record

11 years on the bench (since 2016), 4,898 cases total, lifetime grant rate 14.3%

Last 3 years (2023–2026): 2,668 cases, grant rate 13.1% — roughly in line with the Van Nuys court average (10.9%)

Nationality breakdown (2023–2026 cumulative)

Nationality / Cases / Grant rate
Mexico                 675    3.1%
Guatemala              368    1.2%
El Salvador            281    6.0%
Peru                   259    0.4%
Armenia                212   64.8%
Nicaragua              175   13.8%
Russia                 141   49.6%
Honduras               129    1.6%
Colombia               127    0.0%
India                   44    8.1%
Venezuela               35    3.0%

Year-by-year

2023:  383 cases, 28.1% grant rate
2024:  700 cases, 17.1% grant rate
2025:  796 cases, 11.2% grant rate
2026:  789 cases, 3.0% grant rate

If you've appeared before Judge Santos-Garcia, 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

Santos-Garcia, Sandra J. is listed with the Van Nuys, CA Immigration Court. The headline asylum grant rate shown here is 15.4% 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 (783 decided, 5.7% grant rate), Guatemala (357 decided, 3.4% grant rate), and El Salvador (290 decided, 10.7% 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	5.7%	45	738	783
Guatemala	3.4%	12	345	357
El Salvador	10.7%	31	259	290
Armenia	69.1%	154	69	223
Peru	0.5%	1	194	195
Russia	55.0%	82	67	149
Honduras	2.1%	3	137	140
Nicaragua	16.9%	23	113	136
Colombia	0.0%	0	94	94
India	32.0%	16	34	50
Venezuela	6.2%	2	30	32
Ecuador	11.5%	3	23	26
Cameroon	92.0%	23	2	25
Iran	58.8%	10	7	17
Uganda	100.0%	16	0	16
China	7.1%	1	13	14
Syria	66.7%	8	4	12
Georgia	0.0%	0	9	9
Cuba	87.5%	7	1	8
Philippines	33.3%	2	4	6
Vietnam	0.0%	0	5	5
Egypt	100.0%	5	0	5
Indonesia	40.0%	2	3	5
Afghanistan	0.0%	0	5	5
Israel	50.0%	2	2	4
Bangladesh	33.3%	1	2	3
Belarus	100.0%	3	0	3
Belize	0.0%	0	3	3
Romania	0.0%	0	3	3
Chile	0.0%	0	3	3
Nigeria	0.0%	0	3	3
Lebanon	50.0%	1	1	2

Yearly Trends

Year	Approval Rate	Granted	Denied	Decided
2026	4.4%	16	345	361
2025	11.2%	84	665	749
2024	17.1%	116	564	680
2023	28.1%	101	258	359
2022	39.1%	104	162	266
2021	42.2%	35	48	83
2020	15.4%	35	192	227