An immigration judge is a Department of Justice attorney who decides whether the government can remove a person from the United States and whether that person qualifies for protection or another form of relief. Immigration judges work for the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), not for the federal court system, and they hear cases in immigration court. If you have a hearing notice, the judge’s decision can shape everything that follows, so it helps to know who they are and how the process works.
The short version
Immigration judges are administrative judges inside the Department of Justice, not Article III judges. They decide removability, rule on applications such as asylum and cancellation of removal, and handle custody and bond review. You generally cannot choose your judge. You can bring an attorney at your own expense, ask for an interpreter, and present evidence, and a judge’s decision can usually be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Key Takeaways
- Immigration judges are appointed by the Attorney General and work inside EOIR, an office of the Department of Justice, so they are not part of the federal judiciary.
- Respondents do not pick their judge. A case is calendared at an immigration court, and a venue change moves the case to another court, not to a judge you prefer.
- You have the right to counsel at no expense to the government, to examine and present evidence, and to cross-examine government witnesses, and most decisions can be appealed to the BIA within 30 days.
What does an immigration judge do?
Under 8 CFR 1003.10, immigration judges are attorneys whom the Attorney General appoints as administrative judges, and they carry out the powers delegated to them by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) and by regulation. The regulation also directs them to exercise independent judgment and discretion in the cases before them. EOIR itself describes its role as an office within the Department of Justice that conducts immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings.
That structure matters. An immigration judge is not a judge in the federal court system with life tenure, and the person across the table from you, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attorney, is a different agency’s lawyer. The judge is supposed to be the neutral decision maker between the two.
In practice, the judge does several things:
- Decides removability. Section 240 of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1229a) says an immigration judge conducts proceedings to decide whether a person is inadmissible or deportable. The judge asks whether DHS has proven the charges in the Notice to Appear.
- Rules on relief. If removability is established, the judge decides applications for relief. That can include asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture, and cancellation of removal under INA 240A (8 U.S.C. 1229b). We cover the main options in our guide to forms of relief from removal.
- Reviews custody and bond. Under 8 CFR 1003.19, an immigration judge can review custody and bond decisions that DHS has made, within the limits of the detention rules. See what the judge weighs in a bond hearing for how that hearing works.
- Manages the case. The judge sets deadlines, rules on motions, decides whether to change venue, and can grant or deny continuances.
How is a case assigned to an immigration judge?
The short answer is that you generally do not get to choose. Once DHS files a Notice to Appear with the immigration court, the case is calendared at that court, and the court assigns hearings on its docket. Nothing in the INA or the regulations gives a respondent a right to select a particular judge.
What you can ask for is a different court. Under 8 CFR 1003.20, an immigration judge may change venue only on a motion from one of the parties, and only for good cause, after the opposing side has had a chance to respond. A successful motion moves the case to another immigration court, where it will be calendared with that court’s judges. It does not let you pick among them.
Two practical points follow. First, the judge who handles your first hearing may not be the judge who hears your final one, because court schedules, judge rosters, and dockets change. Second, you should avoid planning your case around a particular judge. A strong case is built on the facts, the law, and the evidence, which is what every judge is required to apply.
What should you expect at your hearings?
Most cases begin with a short preliminary hearing and, if the case is contested, move to a longer merits hearing. We explain the difference in detail in our post on the master calendar hearing and an individual hearing. In short, the first appearance usually covers the charges, your response to them, and what relief you plan to request. The later hearing is where testimony and evidence are presented.
At the start, 8 CFR 1240.10(a) requires the judge to advise you of your right to representation at no expense to the government, tell you about the availability of pro bono legal services, make sure you have received a copy of your appeal rights, and place you under oath. The judge also reads the factual allegations and charges in your Notice to Appear. You are then asked to plead, which means admitting or denying the allegations and the charge of removability.
If you speak a language other than English, tell the court early so an interpreter can be arranged. Interpreters in these proceedings are required to swear or affirm that they will interpret accurately, under 8 CFR 1003.22. Do not try to get through a hearing in English if you are not comfortable doing so; the details of your case are too important to risk a misunderstanding.
What rights do you have in front of an immigration judge?
The INA lists the core protections in 8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(4). You may be represented by counsel of your choosing who is authorized to practice in these proceedings, at no expense to the government. You have a reasonable opportunity to examine the evidence against you and to present evidence on your own behalf, and you may cross-examine witnesses the government presents. These rights do not extend to national security information the government offers against you.
The phrase “at no expense to the government” is worth reading carefully. It means you can hire an attorney, but the court does not appoint one for you in the way a criminal court would. Under the Immigration Court Practice Manual, only a practitioner authorized to appear may represent you, and everyone else, including friends or relatives, may not speak for you in court. Some people appear on their own, and that is permitted, but we generally encourage anyone facing removal to speak with a qualified immigration attorney first.
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How can you find out which judge has your case?
Start with EOIR’s Automated Case Information portal. You enter your A-Number and nationality, and it provides basic information about the status of certain cases before an immigration court or the Board of Immigration Appeals. EOIR notes that not every case or every piece of information is displayed, that it shows only the primary case if an A-Number has more than one, and that the portal is for convenience only. Official determinations come from the documents the court or the Board issues. We walk through the steps in our post on how to check your immigration court case status.
The portal may not name your judge. The most reliable sources are your hearing notice and the court itself. If you need to confirm who is hearing your case or how your hearing will be held, contact the immigration court listed on your notice. EOIR also publishes a court-by-court listing of immigration judges organized by state, which includes each judge’s internet-based hearing link and telephonic access information. Because judge rosters change over time, treat that page as a reference for the court’s current judges, not as a promise about who will hear your case.
Can you look up an immigration judge’s rating or record?
People often search for an immigration judge “rating” or lookup tool, hoping to predict an outcome. We would be careful with that. Outcomes depend on the facts of each case, the legal claim, the evidence, and the law that applies, and a single number rarely captures any of that. We do not make claims about individual judges’ grant rates.
If you want aggregate information, EOIR publishes its own figures on its workload and adjudication statistics page. Those numbers describe the system broadly, and they should not be read as a forecast for your case.
What happens after the judge decides?
A judge may grant relief, deny relief and order removal, grant voluntary departure, terminate or dismiss the case in certain circumstances, or take a matter under advisement. We discuss the tradeoffs between voluntary departure and a removal order in a separate post, since the choice has consequences for future immigration options.
If you disagree with the decision, you can ask the Board of Immigration Appeals to review it. Under 8 CFR 1003.38(b), the Notice of Appeal (Form EOIR-26) must be filed with the Board within 30 calendar days of the judge’s decision. A February 2026 rule would have shortened this period, but it was vacated in court, as we explain in our post on the BIA appeal process. Because deadlines in this area are strict and the rules have been changing, confirm the current deadline for your own case rather than relying on a general summary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are immigration judges real judges?
They are judges in the administrative sense. The Attorney General appoints them as administrative judges within the Department of Justice, and they decide cases using their own independent judgment under the INA and regulations. They are not Article III judges in the federal court system, which is why their decisions are appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals and, after that, to a federal court of appeals in many cases.
Can I request a different immigration judge?
Generally, no. You can file a motion to change venue to another immigration court if you can show good cause, but that moves the case to a different court, not to a specific judge. If you believe there is a legal problem with how a hearing was handled, that is a matter to raise with an attorney, who can look at whether the issue can be preserved for appeal.
Do I need a lawyer in immigration court?
You may represent yourself, and the government is not required to provide you with an attorney. You do have a right to be represented by counsel of your choosing at no expense to the government. Because the judge can order removal, and because the outcome affects your ability to return later, we recommend speaking with a qualified immigration attorney before your first hearing if you can. You can reach us at (407) 917-2087 to start the process.
Can an immigration judge decide bond for someone in detention?
In many cases, yes. An immigration judge can review custody and bond decisions made by DHS under 8 CFR 1003.19, subject to the detention rules that apply to the person. Some people are not eligible for a bond hearing at all, so eligibility depends on the specific facts and the law that applies to them.
How We Can Help
If you have a Notice to Appear or an upcoming hearing, we can review the facts, explain how the process is likely to unfold, and tell you whether we can take your case. We start with a free pre-evaluation, and if it is a fit, we invite you to a paid consultation with a written flat-fee quote. Call us at (407) 917-2087, or use our contact page to get started. Our founding attorney Denisse Ilabaca is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by The Florida Bar, a distinction held by fewer than two percent of Florida attorneys.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship with Ilabaca Law, PLLC. Immigration law changes often, and every case depends on its own facts, so speak with a qualified attorney about your situation.