Judge Fujimoto, James R.

Not hearing cases: nothing for over two years

Last hearing: October 26, 2022
Next hearing: none scheduled
Last decision: January 25, 2021

Courts worked at: 10

Worked here before

CHICAGO — IMMIGRATION COURT1978—2022 · 69,597 hearings
OMAHA — IMMIGRATION COURT1985—2019 · 78,447 hearings
KANSAS CITY — IMMIGRATION COURT1990—2008 · 205 hearings
DETROIT — IMMIGRATION COURT1971—2007 · 8,293 hearings
FORT SNELLING — IMMIGRATION COURT1993—2001 · 34 hearings
NEW YORK — IMMIGRATION COURT1996—1999 · 51 hearings
PHILADELPHIA — IMMIGRATION COURT1986—1994 · 503 hearings
TACOMA — IMMIGRATION COURT1993—1993 · 49 hearings
ANNANDALE — IMMIGRATION COURT1989—1990 · 126 hearings
BALTIMORE — IMMIGRATION COURT1990—1990 · 23 hearings

The periods overlap, and that is not an error: a judge hears cases at a new court while still closing out old ones at the previous one. Each row answers "when did this judge work here", not "from when to when did they serve here".

Status is derived from the court calendar: whether the judge has hearings scheduled after the release cutoff. The EOIR release carries no personnel data, so retirement, removal, elevation to the BIA and extended absence cannot be told apart — only what the data shows is stated here. Hearings are scheduled two to three years out, so an empty calendar for a working judge is rare; for judges who went quiet in the last few months it may still be an artifact of the cutoff, which lags by about a month. The lookup table's "active" flag is not used: it disagrees with the calendar for a third of judges.

29%

Asylum grant rate

of 2,895 decisions · FY1978–FY2021

95% interval: 27% — 31%

granted:: 840
denied:: 2,055

The period has closed

This judge no longer hears cases, so the figure describes FY1978–FY2021 — not what happens in the court today. Asylum rules and the mix of cases have changed since.

How this percentage is calculated

Grant rate = granted / (granted + denied). Administrative closures, withdrawals, abandonment and "not adjudicated" are excluded from the denominator. The unit of count is a decision per proceeding, not per application: applicants almost always file asylum, withholding and CAT protection together. Withholding and CAT grants are counted separately from asylum. U.S. fiscal year: October 1 – September 30.

How this compares

This judge29% (2,895)
The whole court — CHICAGO — IMMIGRATION COURT42% (35,363)
All U.S. courts33% (1,350,724)

This comparison does not adjust for which cases a judge was given: judges see different nationalities, different shares of detained respondents, and different rates of legal representation. A difference in percentages does not by itself mean identical cases were treated differently.

Trend by fiscal year

U.S. fiscal year: October 1 – September 30.

Years with fewer than 10 decisions are not plotted (6): at that sample size the percentage is noise. They remain in the table.

Show as a table

Grant rate by fiscal year
Period	decisions	granted	95% interval
FY2019	6	67%	30% — 90%
FY2018	7	71%	36% — 92%
FY2017	23	48%	29% — 67%
FY2016	17	12%	3% — 34%
FY2015	32	34%	20% — 52%
FY2014	18	33%	16% — 56%
FY2013	27	48%	31% — 66%
FY2012	45	27%	16% — 41%
FY2011	77	17%	10% — 27%
FY2010	63	21%	12% — 32%
FY2009	136	15%	10% — 22%
FY2008	105	22%	15% — 31%
FY2007	133	30%	23% — 38%
FY2006	168	37%	30% — 44%
FY2005	149	46%	38% — 54%
FY2004	108	37%	29% — 46%
FY2003	148	20%	14% — 27%
FY2002	156	23%	17% — 30%
FY2001	144	40%	32% — 48%
FY2000	134	35%	28% — 43%
FY1999	162	27%	21% — 34%
FY1998	166	35%	28% — 42%
FY1997	126	36%	28% — 44%
FY1996	120	33%	26% — 42%
FY1995	120	23%	17% — 32%
FY1994	187	19%	14% — 25%
FY1993	139	26%	19% — 34%
FY1992	81	25%	17% — 35%
FY1991	77	25%	16% — 35%
FY1990	14	0%	0% — 22%
FY1989	1	0%	0% — 79%
FY1987	3	33%	6% — 79%
FY1986	1	0%	0% — 79%
FY1983	2	0%	0% — 66%

By applicant nationality

Grant rate by nationality, largest volumes first
Nationality	decisions	granted	95% interval
GUATEMALA	678	10%	8% — 13%
EL SALVADOR	211	17%	13% — 23%
ROMANIA	178	15%	10% — 21%
Former Countries	125	37%	29% — 46%
BULGARIA	106	17%	11% — 25%
CHINA	100	51%	41% — 61%
ALBANIA	86	51%	41% — 61%
UKRAINE	86	37%	28% — 48%
POLAND	79	0%	0% — 5%
MEXICO	74	9%	5% — 18%
ETHIOPIA	62	47%	35% — 59%
PAKISTAN	60	38%	27% — 51%
HONDURAS	59	17%	9% — 28%
JORDAN	57	12%	6% — 23%
COLOMBIA	55	42%	30% — 55%

How long a case takes

How long it took from service of the NTA to the decision on the application, for the cases this judge has already finished.

19 mo

median

half of cases: 11—33 mo

based on 2,895 cases

NTA-to-decision duration by fiscal year
Decided in	Cases	median	half of cases, mo
FY2015	32	37 mo	21—84
FY2012	45	27 mo	13—57
FY2011	77	39 mo	26—58
FY2010	63	25 mo	13—40
FY2009	136	39 mo	26—51
FY2008	105	31 mo	17—47
FY2007	133	32 mo	27—37
FY2006	168	32 mo	23—43
FY2005	149	34 mo	18—50
FY2004	108	32 mo	21—39

Duration runs from the NTA date (charging document served) to the decision on the application. Median, not mean: the distribution has a long right tail. Cases decided this year may have begun a decade ago, so duration by year of decision is not a forecast for a case filed today.

The queue

Cases with no decision yet. A different figure from the duration of completed cases: quick cases leave the queue first, so the long ones accumulate among those still waiting.

No undecided cases in this release.

What became of appeals to the BIA

An immigration judge's decision can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. This is what the Board did with those appeals. A high share of reversals and remands tells a different story than a low grant rate alone.

What became of appeals to the BIA
BIA decision	Appeals
Dismiss Appeal/Affirm IJ's Decision	1,095
Remand	659
Denied	508
Dismissed (Grant V/D 30 days)	465
Dismissed (Voluntary Departure Granted)	378
SUMMARY AFFIRMANCE/VD	293
Summary Affirmance	277
Withdrawal of Appeal	155
Granted	117
Other	108
Lacks Jurisdiction - BIA	103
Termination	75
Temporary Protected Status	65
Summarily Dismiss	54
Sustain	54
Dismiss Soriano	50
Dismiss as Untimely	29
Continued	23
Moot Bond	22
Grant with no Remand	14
Background Check Remand	13
Summary Dismissal (e) no brief	9
Terminate-DHS PD	7
Granted Soriano	7
Rejection	6
Administratively Closed-DHS PD	6
Summary Dismissal (a) inad reason on appeal	4
Dismissed as Moot	4
Administratively Closed	4
SUMMARY DISMISSAL - BOTH (a) & (e)	3
Denied Soriano	3
SPECIAL NACARA CONTINUATION	2
American Baptist Church Settlement	1
Other Soriano	1
Summary Dismissal (G) untimely or waived appeal	1
Deferred Enforced Departure	1

Data comes from the monthly EOIR Case Data release (U.S. DOJ FOIA Library). This service is not affiliated with the U.S. government and does not provide legal advice. The data lags by roughly a month; for current case status use ACIS and Respondent Access. The source is known to have missing records, including relief applications — absent data does not mean it is absent from your case.