Judge Villegas, Veronica S.

21.6%

Approval Rate

366

Granted

1,513

Denied

1,879

Total Decided

Judge Villegas, Veronica S. serves at the West Los Angeles, CA Immigration Court. With an asylum approval rate of 21.6%, 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 Villegas (West Los Angeles, CA) data snapshot: Overall rate fell from 30% to 1% in 3 years

A few numbers worth knowing if you have a hearing in front of Judge Villegas, Veronica S. (IJ code VSV, West Los Angeles, CA):

Overall track record

37 years on the bench (since 1990), 4,008 cases total, lifetime grant rate 20.1%

Last 3 years (2023–2026): 2,215 cases, grant rate 8.9% — 4.2pp below the West Los Angeles court average (13.1%)

Nationality breakdown (2023–2026 cumulative)

Nationality / Cases / Grant rate
Mexico                 494   19.2%
Guatemala              389    4.7%
El Salvador            253    7.7%
Colombia               225    0.0%
Nicaragua              183    0.6%
Honduras               179    1.4%
China                  116   30.7%
Peru                    52    0.0%
Venezuela               47    0.0%
Ecuador                 37    0.0%
Russia                  26   31.6%

Year-by-year

2023:  266 cases, 30.2% grant rate
2024:  359 cases, 17.2% grant rate
2025:  737 cases, 5.8% grant rate
2026:  853 cases, 1.1% grant rate

If you've appeared before Judge Villegas, 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

Villegas, Veronica S. is listed with the West Los Angeles, CA Immigration Court. The headline asylum grant rate shown here is 21.6% 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 (503 decided, 37.8% grant rate), Guatemala (335 decided, 8.7% grant rate), and El Salvador (198 decided, 18.7% 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	37.8%	190	313	503
Guatemala	8.7%	29	306	335
El Salvador	18.7%	37	161	198
Colombia	0.0%	0	174	174
Nicaragua	1.3%	2	149	151
China	43.2%	63	83	146
Honduras	4.3%	6	134	140
Peru	0.0%	0	44	44
Venezuela	0.0%	0	34	34
Ecuador	0.0%	0	30	30
Russia	27.8%	5	13	18
Philippines	46.2%	6	7	13
Belize	0.0%	0	12	12
Iran	80.0%	8	2	10
Brazil	0.0%	0	10	10
Romania	0.0%	0	10	10
Turkey	0.0%	0	9	9
Indonesia	75.0%	6	2	8
Afghanistan	0.0%	0	6	6
South Korea	40.0%	2	3	5
Syria	100.0%	5	0	5
Egypt	100.0%	5	0	5
Bolivia	0.0%	0	3	3
Armenia	100.0%	2	0	2
Nigeria	0.0%	0	2	2
Cuba	0.0%	0	2	2
India	0.0%	0	2	2
Israel	0.0%	0	2	2

Yearly Trends

Year	Approval Rate	Granted	Denied	Decided
2026	0.4%	2	449	451
2025	5.8%	35	565	600
2024	17.2%	50	240	290
2023	30.3%	70	161	231
2022	57.6%	53	39	92
2021	72.6%	69	26	95
2020	53.2%	109	96	205