Appointed April 1997 · President Bill Clinton→ Attorney General Janet Reno(AG inferred from date)
29 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Brigitte Laforest was appointed as an Immigration Judge in April 1997. She earned an undergraduate degree in 1981 from Princeton University and a Juris Doctor in 1987 from Georgetown University Law Center. From 1987 to 1993, she worked as a staff attorney at the Brooklyn Neighborhood Office, Immigration Unit, Legal Aid Society, in Brooklyn. She also coordinated the Citywide Immigrants' Rights Project from 1988 to 1992 and held positions at the Legal Aid Society and Fordham University School of Law between 1993 and 1997. She is a member of the New York Bar.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
656
Completions per year
3,933 total
0.4%
Detained at decision
share of cases
8.3 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
27.9%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
6.4%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
7.3%
Appeals remanded or reversed
137 appeals decided
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
53.7%
624 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
3.7%
597 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
94%
83 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
100%⚠
2 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
100%⚠
13 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
100%⚠
27 decisions Too few cases
53.7%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 624 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
53.7%
This court
33.3%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 16% 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 · 575 decisions since 2021
57.6%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 49 decisions since 2021
8.2%
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.
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).