Data study · EOIR records through Sep 30, 2026
DHS asked judges to deny asylum without a full hearing 6,954 times in September 2026
Two years earlier, in September 2024, it filed 51 such motions. Judges granted 80.4% of the DHS motions they decided from Oct 1, 2025 to Sep 30, 2026.
- 103,323
- DHS motions filed, Oct 2025 – Sep 2026
- 77,281
- decided by a judge
- 80.4%
- of decided motions granted
- 55,135
- denials that followed a granted motion
Findings
What the records show
136 times as many in two years. DHS filed 6,954 motions to pretermit in September 2026, up from 51 in September 2024. Monthly filings peaked at 20,140 in January 2026.
Judges granted most of them. From Oct 1, 2025 to Sep 30, 2026, judges decided 77,281 DHS motions to pretermit and granted 62,115 (80.4%).
55,135 denials followed a granted motion. That is 7.4% of the 740,272 denials immigration judges issued in the same 12 months.
Judges differ widely. Among the 589 judges who decided at least 20 of these motions, the median judge granted 86.1%. One judge in ten granted 48.7% or less; one in ten granted 98.2% or more.
So do courts. Among the 28 courts with at least 1,000 decided motions, the share granted ranged from 23.4% in New Orleans, LA to 95.3% in Seattle, WA.
By month
DHS motions to pretermit, month by month
EOIR motion records (motion type PM, filed by DHS), data through Sep 30, 2026. A month's decisions can include motions filed in earlier months.
Show the monthly numbers
| Month | Filed by DHS | Decided | Granted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 6,954 | 5,616 | 4,460 |
| Aug 2026 | 5,095 | 5,045 | 4,329 |
| Jul 2026 | 5,052 | 5,220 | 4,536 |
| Jun 2026 | 4,707 | 5,223 | 4,284 |
| May 2026 | 4,836 | 5,525 | 4,638 |
| Apr 2026 | 5,356 | 7,890 | 6,066 |
| Mar 2026 | 11,287 | 13,211 | 10,879 |
| Feb 2026 | 18,164 | 12,199 | 9,930 |
| Jan 2026 | 20,140 | 9,776 | 7,601 |
| Dec 2025 | 14,132 | 4,515 | 3,335 |
| Nov 2025 | 5,676 | 1,807 | 1,164 |
| Oct 2025 | 1,924 | 1,254 | 893 |
| Sep 2025 | 862 | 942 | 616 |
| Aug 2025 | 1,019 | 668 | 408 |
| Jul 2025 | 423 | 326 | 225 |
| Jun 2025 | 410 | 359 | 196 |
| May 2025 | 374 | 271 | 156 |
| Apr 2025 | 137 | 95 | 63 |
| Mar 2025 | 44 | 33 | 15 |
| Feb 2025 | 52 | 48 | 26 |
| Jan 2025 | 71 | 59 | 45 |
| Dec 2024 | 50 | 44 | 17 |
| Nov 2024 | 80 | 72 | 43 |
| Oct 2024 | 52 | 54 | 32 |
| Sep 2024 | 51 | 39 | 21 |
| Aug 2024 | 69 | 58 | 37 |
| Jul 2024 | 49 | 41 | 27 |
| Jun 2024 | 58 | 70 | 38 |
| May 2024 | 64 | 41 | 15 |
| Apr 2024 | 45 | 39 | 21 |
| Mar 2024 | 52 | 37 | 21 |
| Feb 2024 | 35 | 32 | 18 |
| Jan 2024 | 61 | 54 | 43 |
| Dec 2023 | 51 | 50 | 24 |
| Nov 2023 | 63 | 40 | 20 |
| Oct 2023 | 45 | 43 | 29 |
Judges
How often each judge granted DHS's motion
- Median judge
- 86.1%
- Lowest tenth of judges
- 48.7% or less
- Highest tenth of judges
- 98.2% or more
- Granted 95% or more
- 123 judges (20.9%)
- Granted half or fewer
- 65 judges (11.0%)
A distribution only: judges are not named. Judges with fewer than 20 decided DHS motions are left out.
Courts
Every court with at least 100 decided motions
Filed and decided from Oct 1, 2025 to Sep 30, 2026. The last column is the share of all the court's denials in the same months that followed a granted DHS motion. “—”: no denials recorded for that court in those months.
| Court | DHS motions filed | Decided | Granted | Denials after a granted motion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ana, CA | 7,090 | 5,774 | 83.9% | 24.2% of 18,821 |
| New York City, NY | 6,882 | 4,928 | 85.6% | 10.7% of 35,381 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 5,962 | 3,995 | 82.2% | 28.1% of 10,495 |
| Miami, FL | 4,618 | 3,931 | 91.6% | 11.0% of 27,815 |
| West Los Angeles, CA | 4,252 | 3,638 | 83.8% | 19.8% of 14,566 |
| New York Broadway, NY | 4,011 | 3,261 | 81.5% | 13.0% of 19,173 |
| Newark, NJ | 3,988 | 2,774 | 89.0% | 9.9% of 21,489 |
| Orlando, FL | 3,282 | 2,373 | 91.8% | 7.2% of 27,854 |
| Van Nuys, CA | 3,612 | 2,300 | 86.3% | 20.4% of 9,158 |
| New Orleans, LA | 2,344 | 2,255 | 23.4% | 5.8% of 7,720 |
| Chicago, IL | 3,690 | 2,249 | 77.0% | 3.4% of 45,824 |
| Cleveland, OH | 2,202 | 2,022 | 90.5% | 11.1% of 14,181 |
| Seattle, WA | 2,345 | 1,795 | 95.3% | 12.3% of 10,065 |
| Baton Rouge, LA | 1,925 | 1,756 | 49.2% | 13.9% of 5,501 |
| Dallas, TX | 2,340 | 1,732 | 85.3% | 2.3% of 60,293 |
| Houston Greenspoint, TX | 1,767 | 1,562 | 85.3% | 6.5% of 18,842 |
| Omaha, NE | 1,761 | 1,479 | 73.5% | 12.2% of 7,910 |
| Atlanta, GA | 1,793 | 1,477 | 84.6% | 3.8% of 24,722 |
| Charlotte, NC | 1,837 | 1,474 | 74.2% | 3.3% of 26,666 |
| Hyattsville, MD | 1,982 | 1,449 | 88.6% | 14.3% of 8,547 |
Show the other 46 courts
| Court | DHS motions filed | Decided | Granted | Denials after a granted motion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston South, TX | 1,364 | 1,324 | 91.7% | 8.8% of 12,820 |
| Memphis, TN | 1,843 | 1,176 | 53.1% | 2.3% of 21,133 |
| Buffalo, NY | 1,246 | 1,127 | 93.6% | 25.9% of 4,126 |
| North Los Angeles, CA | 2,115 | 1,108 | 85.4% | 11.9% of 7,384 |
| New York Varick 5th, NY | 1,385 | 1,087 | 94.7% | 11.1% of 7,458 |
| Arlington, VA | 1,272 | 1,022 | 87.4% | 6.1% of 12,776 |
| Bloomington, MN | 1,428 | 1,014 | 89.5% | 8.9% of 9,583 |
| Sterling, VA | 1,513 | 1,005 | 89.6% | 6.8% of 12,352 |
| Houston, TX | 1,039 | 931 | 84.3% | 9.0% of 8,291 |
| Indianapolis, IN | 1,093 | 837 | 92.6% | 6.6% of 11,222 |
| Denver, CO | 1,393 | 762 | 66.8% | 5.8% of 7,651 |
| San Francisco, CA | 1,519 | 738 | 73.2% | 7.0% of 6,501 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 1,158 | 674 | 62.6% | 2.5% of 14,767 |
| Conroe, TX | 854 | 668 | 82.0% | 6.9% of 6,703 |
| Baltimore, MD | 848 | 666 | 87.1% | 6.9% of 7,894 |
| San Antonio, TX | 768 | 610 | 75.2% | 1.3% of 25,433 |
| Concord, CA | 1,660 | 608 | 60.4% | 3.1% of 12,273 |
| Boston, MA | 714 | 588 | 74.7% | 2.7% of 10,043 |
| Sacramento, CA | 594 | 536 | 55.2% | 8.1% of 2,634 |
| Jena, LA | 684 | 497 | 74.0% | 5.4% of 6,063 |
| Detroit, MI | 596 | 485 | 75.7% | 4.6% of 6,420 |
| Elizabeth, NJ | 651 | 469 | 80.4% | 8.3% of 3,999 |
| San Diego, CA | 627 | 442 | 80.5% | 13.1% of 2,453 |
| Adelanto, CA | 554 | 440 | 66.4% | 5.3% of 5,050 |
| Kansas City, MO | 860 | 434 | 87.1% | 4.9% of 7,046 |
| Port Isabel, TX | 538 | 434 | 82.3% | 5.1% of 6,497 |
| Portland, OR | 691 | 431 | 61.3% | 4.9% of 4,304 |
| Otero, NM | 486 | 430 | 84.9% | 9.7% of 3,196 |
| Eloy, AZ | 565 | 409 | 62.8% | 8.2% of 2,267 |
| Laredo, TX | 452 | 409 | 61.4% | 4.5% of 5,332 |
| El Paso, TX | 500 | 360 | 80.6% | 3.3% of 8,336 |
| Oakdale, LA | 428 | 326 | 74.2% | 3.5% of 6,397 |
| Aurora, CO | 509 | 300 | 70.3% | 5.7% of 3,399 |
| Harlingen, TX | 437 | 292 | 75.7% | 2.4% of 6,811 |
| Krome, FL | 377 | 287 | 78.7% | 6.4% of 2,690 |
| Stewart, GA | 437 | 275 | 89.5% | 4.7% of 4,425 |
| Chelmsford, MA | 287 | 232 | 77.6% | 2.4% of 5,501 |
| Batavia, NY | 243 | 207 | 79.2% | — |
| Otay Mesa, CA | 275 | 200 | 67.0% | 13.7% of 924 |
| Atlanta Detained, GA | 235 | 179 | 85.5% | 4.7% of 2,816 |
| El Paso Detained, TX | 200 | 149 | 55.7% | 1.5% of 3,957 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 173 | 142 | 50.7% | 0.7% of 7,866 |
| Tucson, AZ | 161 | 136 | 31.6% | 3.9% of 794 |
| Las Vegas, NV | 169 | 120 | 73.3% | 2.3% of 3,622 |
| Florence, AZ | 145 | 107 | 78.5% | 6.2% of 1,314 |
| Hartford, CT | 119 | 104 | 74.0% | 0.9% of 7,755 |
If you are in court
What this means for someone in court
A motion to pretermit asks the judge to deny an asylum application without holding the individual (merits) hearing, where you would testify. The Board of Immigration Appeals has said a judge may do this when the facts in the application, even taken as true, would not make the person eligible (Matter of H-A-A-V-, 2025). EOIR's policy memo PM 25-28 (April 2025) gives judges guidance on pretermitting applications that are legally insufficient.
The numbers on this page describe other people's cases. They do not predict what will happen in yours, and this page is not legal advice.
If DHS has filed this motion in your case, talk to a lawyer or an accredited representative as soon as you can. EOIR publishes a list of free legal service providers by court.
Definitions
What each number counts
- Motion to pretermit
- A request that the judge deny an asylum application without a full individual (merits) hearing, because the application is legally insufficient on its face. EOIR motion type “PM”.
- Filed by DHS
- Only motions filed by the Department of Homeland Security (EOIR motion code I). Motions filed by the person in proceedings are not counted.
- Decided · granted
- Decided = granted or denied by the judge; withdrawn or other outcomes are left out. Granted share = granted ÷ decided.
- Denials
- Decisions ordering removal (EOIR decision codes X and D), including orders issued in absentia. This is the “denied” count behind AsylumTracker's grant rates.
- Denials after a granted motion
- Denials issued after the person appeared (not in absentia) in a case where a judge had granted a DHS motion to pretermit in the 730 days before the decision.
- Time window
- Oct 1, 2025 to Sep 30, 2026: the last 12 complete months of EOIR data. The monthly chart starts in October 2023: filings by filing month, decisions by decision month.
Method and limits
How this was counted
- Source: EOIR case and motion records published in the EOIR FOIA Library, loaded into AsylumTracker's database and counted on Nov 1, 2026. Data through Sep 30, 2026.
- Only motions filed by DHS are counted. Since Matter of G-R-B- (Board of Immigration Appeals, September 29, 2026), a judge may also pretermit an application without a DHS motion; those decisions are not in these numbers.
- EOIR records do not tie a motion to one proceeding, so motions are linked to denials by case. A case with more than one proceeding can occasionally be matched to the wrong one.
- Later EOIR releases can add or correct records for these months, so the numbers can change.
- These are counts, not causes. They do not account for nationality, legal representation, the facts of each case or which judge heard it.
Cite this study
Free to use, with credit
AsylumTracker, “DHS motions to pretermit asylum applications,” EOIR records through Sep 30, 2026, counted Nov 1, 2026. https://asylumtracker.com/reports/dhs-motions-to-pretermit
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: keep the credit and link to this page. Questions about the data or the method: [email protected]. Reporters: see the press page.