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Sierra Leone

Asylum decisions for applicants of this nationality across all U.S. immigration courts.

EOIR data through August 31, 2026 · built September 11, 2026 · What these dates mean

38%

Asylum grant rate

of 3,394 decisions · FY1977–FY2026

95% interval: 37% — 40%

granted:
1,294
denied:
2,100
How this percentage is calculated

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

How this compares

  • Sierra Leone38% (3,394)
  • All U.S. courts33% (1,369,763)

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

0%25%50%75%100%1986199620022008201420202026

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

FY2026 is incomplete: the release covers only 11 of its 12 months. Its point is drawn hollow and the segment leading to it is dashed.

Years with fewer than 10 decisions are not plotted (7): at that sample size the percentage is noise. They remain in the table.

Show as a table
Grant rate by fiscal year
Perioddecisionsgranted95% interval
FY2026partial5426%16% — 39%
FY20258636%27% — 47%
FY20244151%36% — 66%
FY20234255%40% — 69%
FY20224068%52% — 80%
FY20211735%17% — 59%
FY20202941%26% — 59%
FY20194856%42% — 69%
FY20184556%41% — 69%
FY20174929%18% — 42%
FY20161963%41% — 81%
FY20152850%33% — 67%
FY20143839%26% — 55%
FY20134144%30% — 59%
FY20126452%40% — 63%
FY20116040%29% — 53%
FY20107636%26% — 47%
FY20096642%31% — 54%
FY200812239%30% — 47%
FY200711243%34% — 52%
FY200618543%36% — 50%
FY200522936%30% — 42%
FY200429142%36% — 48%
FY200330638%33% — 44%
FY200226542%36% — 48%
FY200119646%40% — 53%
FY200014248%40% — 56%
FY19998756%46% — 66%
FY19987027%18% — 39%
FY19979615%9% — 23%
FY199613814%9% — 21%
FY199514320%14% — 27%
FY19948721%14% — 30%
FY19933113%5% — 29%
FY199220%0% — 66%
FY199140%0% — 49%
FY1990757%25% — 84%
FY198990%0% — 30%
FY198830%0% — 56%
FY198760%0% — 39%
FY1986138%1% — 33%
FY1985743%16% — 75%

Where these cases are heard

Courts by number of decisions for this nationality. Ordered by volume, not by percentage.

Where these cases are heard
Courtdecisionsgranted95% interval
New York Immigration Court1,18650%47% — 53%
Baltimore Immigration Court35423%19% — 28%
Annandale Immigration Court30326%21% — 31%
Seattle Immigration Court13122%16% — 30%
Elizabeth Immigration Court12630%23% — 39%
Cleveland Immigration Court11929%21% — 37%
Newark Immigration Court9853%43% — 63%
Philadelphia Immigration Court9353%43% — 63%
Memphis Immigration Court7617%10% — 27%
Fort Snelling Immigration Court7210%5% — 19%
Napanoch Immigration Court6455%43% — 66%
Boston Immigration Court5761%48% — 73%
Atlanta Immigration Court5112%6% — 23%
Dallas Immigration Court4842%29% — 56%
Hyattsville Immigration Court4747%33% — 61%
West Los Angeles Immigration Court4643%30% — 58%
Chicago Immigration Court4342%28% — 57%
Buffalo Immigration Court4260%44% — 73%
Denver Immigration Court3247%31% — 64%
Detroit Immigration Court3116%7% — 33%
San Diego Immigration Court3017%7% — 34%
San Francisco Immigration Court2259%39% — 77%
New York Immigration Court2030%15% — 52%
Orlando Immigration Court1822%9% — 45%
New York Immigration Court1747%26% — 69%

The queue

Proceedings of applicants of this nationality with no decision yet.

32 mo

already waited, median

from the NTA to the data cutoff

half of proceedings: 11—50 mo

proceedings in the queue: 836

  • 75% of them have a hearing scheduled later than the date this data was collected. The rest have no upcoming event in the release.

The queue counts proceedings with no decision yet in the release. It is how long people have already waited, not how much longer they will.

How this is counted

Shown separately is the share with a hearing scheduled after the cutoff: the rest have no future event in the release at all, and cannot be read as live alongside these.

Judges with the most such cases

At least 50 decisions for this nationality. This is not a ranking: judges hear different mixes of cases even within one country.

Judges with the most such cases
Judgedecisionsgranted95% interval
Gossart, John F., JR.9914%9% — 22%
Barrett, Bruce M.7716%9% — 25%
Josephson, Kenneth7026%17% — 37%
Bryant, John Milo7033%23% — 44%
Greene JR., William P.6319%11% — 30%
Chew, George T.5947%35% — 60%
Sichel, Helen5947%35% — 60%
Churchill, Joan V.5711%5% — 21%
Morace, Philip L.5549%36% — 62%
Mcmanus, Margaret5169%55% — 80%
Laforest, Brigitte5060%46% — 72%
How to cite this page

Figures on this page belong to one monthly release and are replaced whole by the next. The release label and the data cutoff are part of the citation for that reason: without them the number cannot be checked later.

Asylum Beacon. Sierra Leone. EOIR Case Data, U.S. DOJ FOIA Library, release 2026-08, data through 2026-08-31. https://asylumbeacon.com/en/nationality/SL

Methodology in full

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 give legal advice. The release lags by roughly a month, so check ACIS or Respondent Access for your current case status. The source has known gaps, including among relief applications: if something is missing here, that does not mean it is missing from your case.