Immigration court
Phoenix, AZ Immigration Court
15 judges · AZ
EOIR data through Sep 1, 2026 · updated monthly
- 12,543
- Granted
- 54,223
- Denied
- 15
- Judges
Distribution
How this court's judges compare
At Phoenix, AZ, 15 judges range from 3.5% to 36.0%.
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 18.8% historical asylum grant rate for Phoenix, AZ Immigration Court, based on 12,543 grants and 54,223 denials (66,766 decided outcomes).
The Phoenix, AZ Immigration Court has an overall asylum approval rate of 18.8% across 66,766 decided cases. The court has 15 immigration judges. Data sourced from EOIR (Executive Office for Immigration Review).
How to Interpret This Court's Data
The Phoenix, AZ Immigration Court has an overall asylum grant rate of 18.8% 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 Freerks, Lamonte S. (30,160 total cases), Richardson, John W. (28,217 total cases), and Sharda, Munish (9,202 total cases). The largest nationality groups shown for this court include Mexico (14,181 decided, 8.6% grant rate), Guatemala (4,069 decided, 1.5% grant rate), and Venezuela (2,667 decided, 10.0% 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 Phoenix, AZ Immigration Court is the assigned filing location for 304 ZIP codes. Main cities by state:
AZ — Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, Glendale, Chandler, Gilbert, Flagstaff, Surprise, Peoria, Prescott, Tempe, Casa Grande, Lake Havasu City, Apache Junction, Avondale and 174 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freerks, Lamonte S. | 12.5% | 3,142 | 21,904 | 25,046 |
| Richardson, John W. | 20.9% | 4,781 | 18,089 | 22,870 |
| Sharda, Munish | 6.7% | 478 | 6,606 | 7,084 |
| Hollis, Wendell A. | 36.0% | 1,908 | 3,397 | 5,305 |
| Cortes, John W. | 8.1% | 451 | 5,088 | 5,539 |
| Gaz, Jennifer I. | 9.2% | 431 | 4,277 | 4,708 |
| Habich, Paul M. | 11.3% | 515 | 4,030 | 4,545 |
| Arellano, Silvia R. | 11.0% | 452 | 3,661 | 4,113 |
| Cottor, Elizabeth A | 8.0% | 317 | 3,643 | 3,960 |
| Guerrero, Marni | 7.4% | 261 | 3,264 | 3,525 |
| Karlen, Melissa Beth | 9.3% | 319 | 3,129 | 3,448 |
| Imburgia, Joseph S. | 4.4% | 134 | 2,945 | 3,079 |
| Kuipers, Benjamin | 3.5% | 6 | 167 | 173 |
| Josephson, Kenneth | 15.3% | 23 | 127 | 150 |
| Zhang, Xinzhe | 3.5% | 5 | 137 | 142 |
Approval Rate by Nationality
| Nationality | Approval Rate | Granted | Denied | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | 8.6% | 1,214 | 12,967 | 14,181 |
| Guatemala | 1.5% | 63 | 4,006 | 4,069 |
| Venezuela | 10.0% | 267 | 2,400 | 2,667 |
| Honduras | 1.7% | 27 | 1,601 | 1,628 |
| Colombia | 1.7% | 21 | 1,182 | 1,203 |
| Nicaragua | 6.2% | 59 | 887 | 946 |
| Cuba | 27.5% | 142 | 374 | 516 |
| El Salvador | 3.9% | 18 | 443 | 461 |
| Romania | 8.2% | 27 | 303 | 330 |
| Ecuador | 1.0% | 3 | 286 | 289 |
| Peru | 1.5% | 4 | 261 | 265 |
| Turkey | 7.9% | 10 | 117 | 127 |
| Russia | 73.0% | 65 | 24 | 89 |
| Haiti | 1.2% | 1 | 82 | 83 |
| Afghanistan | 28.0% | 23 | 59 | 82 |
| China | 45.9% | 34 | 40 | 74 |
| Cameroon | 58.7% | 37 | 26 | 63 |
| Iraq | 71.4% | 40 | 16 | 56 |
| Dominican Republic | 1.8% | 1 | 55 | 56 |
| India | 19.2% | 10 | 42 | 52 |
| Jamaica | 12.2% | 6 | 43 | 49 |
| Nigeria | 35.4% | 17 | 31 | 48 |
| Kenya | 58.7% | 27 | 19 | 46 |
| Brazil | 17.9% | 7 | 32 | 39 |
| Philippines | 20.0% | 6 | 24 | 30 |
| Rwanda | 50.0% | 15 | 15 | 30 |
| Guinea | 19.0% | 4 | 17 | 21 |
| Democratic Republic Of Congo | 21.1% | 4 | 15 | 19 |
| Bolivia | 0.0% | 0 | 19 | 19 |
| Iran | 83.3% | 15 | 3 | 18 |
| Pakistan | 15.4% | 2 | 11 | 13 |
| Vietnam | 33.3% | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| Belize | 0.0% | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Panama | 0.0% | 0 | 11 | 11 |
| Jordan | 18.2% | 2 | 9 | 11 |
| Israel | 20.0% | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Egypt | 80.0% | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Somalia | 20.0% | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Chile | 0.0% | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| Burundi | 28.6% | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Sudan | 0.0% | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Canada | 16.7% | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Ghana | 0.0% | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Morocco | 0.0% | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Unknown Nationality | 0.0% | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 80.0% | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Congo | 100.0% | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Argentina | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Angola | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Costa Rica | 0.0% | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Bangladesh | 0.0% | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Senegal | 25.0% | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Kuwait | 0.0% | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Bulgaria | 100.0% | 2 | 0 | 2 |