The Honorable Immigration Judge Anita McFadden

Santa Ana, CA Immigration Court
Appointed December 2021 · President Joe Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland
4 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration

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Background

The Honorable Immigration Judge Anita McFadden earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1990 from the University of New Mexico and a Juris Doctor in 1993 from Georgetown University Law Center. Before her appointment, she worked as a private practitioner (2005-2021), as staff counsel with Allstate Insurance (2000-2004), and earlier as an associate attorney and as an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Richmond, Virginia.

Caseload & process (since 2021)
807
Completions per year
4,844 total
0.7%
Detained at decision
share of cases
15.8 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
35.5%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
11.2%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
13.6%
Appeals remanded or reversed
59 appeals decided

Grant rates by type of relief

Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
19.6% 684 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
2% 853 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
23.5% 17 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
50% 6 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
88.9% 27 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
93.5% 46 decisions Too few cases
19.6%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 684 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
19.6%
This court
19.1%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the bottom 39% of the 825 judges nationally with enough cases to compare.

Does a lawyer matter here?

Asylum grant rate by whether the person had legal representation.
With a lawyerrepresented · 667 decisions since 2021
19.9%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 17 decisions since 2021
5.9%

Asylum grant rate over time

Each point is that calendar year's grant rate, back to 2015 where the judge was deciding cases — the longer career view. Dashed grey line = current national average (31.8%). Headline rates above use 2021 – today.
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%2022: 53.4% of 58 decisions53.4%20222023: 48.7% of 76 decisions48.7%20232024: 40.6% of 101 decisions40.6%20242025: 9.8% of 173 decisions9.8%20252026 (partial year): 2.9% of 276 decisions2.9%2026*
* 2026 is a partial year (data through 06/01/2026) and is incomplete.

Courts where this judge has decided cases

Hearing locations for cases this judge completed since 2021, by number of decisions. Many judges hear cases from more than one court (detained facilities, video dockets, or reassignments).
Santa Ana, CA · home court
4,741 (98%)
26 (0.54%)
9 (0.19%)
8 (0.17%)
6 (0.12%)
6 (0.12%)