The Honorable Immigration Judge Arya S Ranasinghe

Newark, NJ Immigration Court
Appointed October 2018 · President Donald Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions
7 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Republican administration

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Background

The Honorable Immigration Judge Arya S Ranasinghe earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2002 from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a Juris Doctor in 2006 from the Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. From 2008 to 2018 she served as an assistant chief counsel for the Office of Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Newark, New Jersey. From 2007 to 2008 she was an associate attorney at Christophe & Associates, P.C. in New York City. She is a member of the New Jersey State Bar and the New York State Bar.

Caseload & process (since 2021)
1,408
Completions per year
8,449 total
17%
Detained at decision
share of cases
25 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
12.5%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
4.1%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
8.9%
Appeals remanded or reversed
179 appeals decided

Bond decisions

Custody redetermination (bond) rulings since 2021. "Granted" means the judge lowered the bond, ordered release on recognizance, or otherwise granted the request.
23.5%
Bond requests granted
187 bond decisions Moderate
$10,000
Median bond when set
61 bonds with amounts
0%
Released on own recognizance
This judge 23.5%
National 41.9% · median $6,500

Grant rates by type of relief

Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
21.6% 518 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
3.7% 801 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
85.1% 362 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
68.8% 16 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
84.1% 44 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
72.9% 255 decisions High confidence
21.6%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 518 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
21.6%
This court
19.9%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the bottom 43% 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 · 426 decisions since 2021
26.1%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 92 decisions since 2021
1.1%

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%2018: 25% of 4 decisions25%20182019: 54.5% of 55 decisions54.5%20192020: 34.5% of 29 decisions34.5%20202021: 52% of 50 decisions52%20212022: 53.3% of 30 decisions53.3%20222023: 27% of 89 decisions27%20232024: 19.5% of 154 decisions19.5%20242025: 11.4% of 114 decisions11.4%20252026 (partial year): 3.7% of 81 decisions3.7%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).
Newark, NJ · home court
6,850 (81%)
1,195 (14%)
368 (4.4%)
6 (0.07%)
5 (0.06%)
3 (0.04%)