Every state is covered by an immigration court — but many states don't have one inside their
borders. Each state is shaded by the appointing administrations of the currently sitting judges at the
court(s) covering it; striped states have no court of their own and are administered by a court in another state
(hover to see which). This shows who appointed the judges — not how they decide cases.
Tap a state for its court-by-court breakdown.
Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico are insets: each sits on the side of the map where it
really lies, but none is drawn at its true distance or true scale. At true scale Alaska would cover a fifth of
the map and Puerto Rico would be smaller than Rhode Island.
Map colour: share of a state's judges appointed under Republican presidents
0%50%100%
◄ All Democratic-appointedNational average 53%All Republican-appointed ►
Administered by another state's court
Most Republican-appointed: IA 78% · NE 78% · LA 75%Most Democratic-appointed: AL 75% · WY 73% · MA 71%
1,195 active immigration judges
Republican appointees outnumber Democratic ones 612 to 537.
612 Republican-appointed
537 Democratic-appointed
46 not yet classified
Of the 1,149 whose appointment is on the public record, 53.3% were
appointed under Republican presidents and 46.7% under Democratic ones. The remaining 46
(3.8% of the bench) have no public record of their appointment located yet, so they are left out of that
comparison rather than counted against either side.