Baltimore and Arlington Immigration Court Statistics
By Monica Bansal (Legal Intern at BOILA PC)
Baltimore and Arlington Immigration Court Statistics
Arlington Immigration Court Judges
| Immigration Court | Name | Percent Denied (2005) | Percent Denied(2006) | Percent Denied (2007) | Percent Denied (2008) | Percent Denied (2009) |
| Arlington | Bryant, John M. | 52 | 25 | 29 | 18 | 21 |
| Crosland, David W. | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Iskra, Wayne R. | 55 | 50 | 61 | 42 | 29 | |
| Burman, Lawrence | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Schmidt, Paul W. | 46 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 14 | |
| Snow, Thomas G. | N/A | 45 | 51 | 35 | 31 |
In the Arlington Immigration Court, the percent of asylum cases denied has steadily declined since 2005. Not only has there been a steady decline, but there has been quite a large jump within the courts, i.e. Judge Schmidt denied 46% in 2005 and denied 14% in 2009. These statistics presume that there are less pro se respondents and, in addition, immigration attorneys are doing a much more thorough and detailed job on their cases. Judge Iskra denies the most asylee cases and Judge Snow denies the least. Overall, in comparison to Baltimore Immigration Courts, Arlington grants more asylum cases.
Baltimore Immigration Court
| Immigration Court | Name | Percent Denied (2005) | Percent Denied(2006) | Percent Denied (2007) | Percent Denied (2008) | Percent Denied (2009) |
| Baltimore | Gossart, Jr., John F. | 61 | 49 | 55 | 59 | 52 |
| Kessler, Elizabeth A. | N/A | 40 | 60 | 50 | 35 | |
| Dornell, Lisa | 51 | 52 | 51 | 57 | 36 | |
| Dufresne, Jill H. | 45 | 44 | 52 | 61 | 52 | |
| Williams, Phillip T. | N/A | N/A | N/A | 65 | 35 |
In the Baltimore Immigration Court, the percent of asylum cases denied has steadily declined since 2005, with the exception of Judge Dufresne. While there has been a steady decline, there has been less of a jump compared to the Arlington Immigration Courts. For example, Judge Gossart denied 61% in 2005 but still declined 52% in 2009 with only a 9% decrease. Judge Gossart and Dufresne deny the most asylee cases and Judge Kessler denies the least. Overall, in comparison to Arlington IJ’s, Baltimore IJ’s grant less asylum cases.
Nationality – Baltimore Immigration Judges
| Judge Kessler | Judge Dornell | Judge DuFresne |
 |  |  |
| Judge Williams | Judge Gossart |
 |  |
Nationality – Arlington Immigration Judges
| Judge Bryant | Judge Snow | Judge Iskra |
 |  |  |
| Judge Schmidt |
 |
Asylum seekers are a diverse group. Over one hundred different nationalities had at least one hundred individuals claiming asylum decided during this period. As might be expected, immigration courts located in different parts of the country tend to have proportionately larger shares from some countries than from others. And, given the required legal grounds for a successful asylum claim, asylum seekers from some nations tend to be more successful than others.
In Baltimore, aside from the large “Other” percentage which is comprised of hundreds of different nationalities, the largest group of asylum seekers appearing before the judges came from Cameroon and Ethiopia. They saw the least amount of Guinea and Eritrea applicants. In addition, the Baltimore IJ’s saw a small percentage of Chinese asylum seekers.
In Arlington, aside from the large “Other” percentage, the largest group of asylum seekers appearing before the judges came from Ethiopia. This is similar to Baltimore, who also saw a very high percentage of Ethiopian asylum seekers. They saw a much smaller percentage of Cameroon asylum seekers in comparison to Baltimore. El Salvadorians and Pakistanis made up the smallest percentage.
Representation? – Baltimore Immigration Court Judges
| Judge Kessler | Judge Dornell | Judge DuFresne |
 |  |  |
| Judge Williams | Judge Gossart |
 |  |
Representation? – Arlington Immigration Court Judges
| Judge Bryant | Judge Snow | Judge Iskra |
 |  |  |
| Judge Schmidt |
 |
If an asylum seeker is not represented by an attorney, almost all (86%) of them are denied asylum. In contrast, a significantly higher proportion of represented asylum seekers are successful. In the case of Judge Bryant, for example, 13.3% were not represented by an attorney. 17% of asylum seekers were not represented before Judge Gossart in Baltimore, the highest percentage in both Arlington and Baltimore. Judge Williams in Baltimore saw the highest percentage of represented clients, 95%.
