Immigration court
Buffalo, NY Immigration Court
13 judges · NY
EOIR data through Sep 1, 2026 · updated monthly
- 9,793
- Granted
- 34,182
- Denied
- 13
- Judges
Distribution
How this court's judges compare
At Buffalo, NY, 11 judges range from 1.6% to 42.4%.
Each judge's all-time EOIR decided outcomes across every court they have served in: granted ÷ (granted + denied). Judges now based at this court with at least 100 decided cases. A historical pattern — not a prediction for any case.
The 2026-09-01 snapshot shows a 22.3% historical asylum grant rate for Buffalo, NY Immigration Court, based on 9,793 grants and 34,182 denials (43,975 decided outcomes).
The Buffalo, NY Immigration Court has an overall asylum approval rate of 22.3% across 43,975 decided cases. The court has 13 immigration judges. Data sourced from EOIR (Executive Office for Immigration Review).
How to Interpret This Court's Data
The Buffalo, NY Immigration Court has an overall asylum grant rate of 22.3% in the current AsylumTracker dataset. Court-level statistics aggregate judges and cases assigned to that court, so the court average can differ sharply from any one judge's profile.
High-volume judge profiles at this court include Montante Jr., Philip J. (23,994 total cases), Rocco, Michael (15,211 total cases), and Ragno, Thomas M. (11,750 total cases). The largest nationality groups shown for this court include Ecuador (1,972 decided, 1.8% grant rate), Mexico (1,473 decided, 7.8% grant rate), and Guatemala (1,434 decided, 4.7% grant rate).
Asylum grant rate is calculated as granted / (granted + denied). Procedural outcomes are separated so users can distinguish merits decisions from docket-management outcomes.
This page uses public EOIR records last updated 2026-09-01. The data is informational and should not be treated as legal advice or a prediction for any individual case.
Read how EOIR data works or learn how to compare asylum approval rates.
Areas Served by This Court
Based on the official EOIR ZIP-code assignment, the Buffalo, NY Immigration Court is the assigned filing location for 1,192 ZIP codes. Main cities by state:
NY — Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Schenectady, Binghamton, Niagara Falls, Elmira, Keeseville, Troy, Auburn, Ithaca, Liverpool, Lyon Mountain, Plattsburgh and 1066 more cities
Not sure which immigration court serves your address? Enter your ZIP code in the AsylumTracker app's coverage map.
Judges at This Court
| Judge | Approval Rate | Granted | Denied | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montante Jr., Philip J. | 15.8% | 2,679 | 14,279 | 16,958 |
| Rocco, Michael | 17.9% | 1,400 | 6,429 | 7,829 |
| Ragno, Thomas M. | 28.5% | 2,763 | 6,940 | 9,703 |
| Ruehle, Walter H. | 19.9% | 799 | 3,208 | 4,007 |
| Connelly, Steven J. | 9.9% | 426 | 3,875 | 4,301 |
| Baumgarten, Mary C. | 2.8% | 119 | 4,155 | 4,274 |
| Mc Carrick, John J. | 42.4% | 1,368 | 1,861 | 3,229 |
| Hochul, Denise | 18.0% | 619 | 2,817 | 3,436 |
| Lohr, Brandi | 5.4% | 114 | 2,003 | 2,117 |
| Schultz, Eric | 7.8% | 78 | 927 | 1,005 |
| Staszak, Christopher | 1.6% | 2 | 122 | 124 |
| Sacks, Gordon W. | 23.1% | 3 | 10 | 13 |
| Rubin, Alexander | 0.0% | 0 | 17 | 17 |
Approval Rate by Nationality
| Nationality | Approval Rate | Granted | Denied | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ecuador | 1.8% | 35 | 1,937 | 1,972 |
| Mexico | 7.8% | 115 | 1,358 | 1,473 |
| Guatemala | 4.7% | 68 | 1,366 | 1,434 |
| Venezuela | 4.6% | 60 | 1,246 | 1,306 |
| Colombia | 1.9% | 19 | 982 | 1,001 |
| Brazil | 2.1% | 15 | 696 | 711 |
| Turkey | 7.4% | 41 | 515 | 556 |
| Nicaragua | 5.2% | 29 | 525 | 554 |
| Honduras | 6.9% | 36 | 488 | 524 |
| Cuba | 19.1% | 77 | 327 | 404 |
| Peru | 1.4% | 5 | 364 | 369 |
| Dominican Republic | 1.4% | 5 | 354 | 359 |
| India | 9.3% | 26 | 253 | 279 |
| El Salvador | 13.2% | 34 | 224 | 258 |
| Sri Lanka | 3.9% | 10 | 247 | 257 |
| Haiti | 4.8% | 12 | 240 | 252 |
| Bangladesh | 29.5% | 70 | 167 | 237 |
| Russia | 52.0% | 115 | 106 | 221 |
| Angola | 12.6% | 27 | 187 | 214 |
| Democratic Republic Of Congo | 17.5% | 34 | 160 | 194 |
| Afghanistan | 41.4% | 79 | 112 | 191 |
| Jamaica | 16.4% | 31 | 158 | 189 |
| Canada | 38.8% | 57 | 90 | 147 |
| Mauritania | 1.5% | 2 | 128 | 130 |
| China | 19.8% | 20 | 81 | 101 |
| Guyana | 25.3% | 22 | 65 | 87 |
| Ghana | 20.9% | 14 | 53 | 67 |
| Guinea | 20.9% | 14 | 53 | 67 |
| Pakistan | 29.5% | 18 | 43 | 61 |
| Nigeria | 40.4% | 23 | 34 | 57 |
| Sudan | 32.0% | 16 | 34 | 50 |
| Somalia | 44.0% | 22 | 28 | 50 |
| Congo | 42.6% | 20 | 27 | 47 |
| Cameroon | 66.0% | 31 | 16 | 47 |
| Uzbekistan | 19.6% | 9 | 37 | 46 |
| Senegal | 6.7% | 3 | 42 | 45 |
| Romania | 2.5% | 1 | 39 | 40 |
| Sierra Leone | 58.8% | 20 | 14 | 34 |
| Chile | 0.0% | 0 | 28 | 28 |
| Ukraine | 73.1% | 19 | 7 | 26 |
| Belarus | 69.2% | 18 | 8 | 26 |
| Georgia | 4.3% | 1 | 22 | 23 |
| Iran | 39.1% | 9 | 14 | 23 |
| United Kingdom | 38.1% | 8 | 13 | 21 |
| Chad | 0.0% | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| Costa Rica | 0.0% | 0 | 20 | 20 |
| Ethiopia | 40.0% | 8 | 12 | 20 |
| Iraq | 84.2% | 16 | 3 | 19 |
| Vietnam | 11.1% | 2 | 16 | 18 |
| Jordan | 0.0% | 0 | 17 | 17 |
| Turkmenistan | 13.3% | 2 | 13 | 15 |
| Trinidad And Tobago | 28.6% | 4 | 10 | 14 |
| Eritrea | 53.8% | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| Bolivia | 0.0% | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Syria | 0.0% | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Armenia | 10.0% | 1 | 9 | 10 |
| Nepal | 55.6% | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Morocco | 11.1% | 1 | 8 | 9 |
| Yemen | 33.3% | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Moldavia (Moldova) | 50.0% | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Philippines | 0.0% | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Italy | 0.0% | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Liberia | 16.7% | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Palestine | 100.0% | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Albania | 60.0% | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Burkina Faso | 60.0% | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Tajikistan (Tadzhik) | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Burma (Myanmar) | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Egypt | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Panama | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Unknown Nationality | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Belize | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Argentina | 0.0% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Kirghizia (Kyrgyzstan) | 33.3% | 1 | 2 | 3 |