The Honorable Immigration Judge Clarease Rankin Yates
Houston — S. Gessner Road, TX Immigration Court
Appointed May 1990 · President George H. W. Bush→ Attorney General Dick Thornburgh(AG inferred from date)
36 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Republican administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Clarease Rankin Yates earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1973 and a Juris Doctor in 1976, both from Temple University. Before her appointment, she served as an administrative law judge for the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (1985-1990), as an attorney advisor in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. International Trade Commission (1980-1985), and as an attorney with the Harper and Tatum law firm in Philadelphia (1976-1980). Since 1991 she has also served as an adjunct professor of immigration law at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
836
Completions per year
5,016 total
0.7%
Detained at decision
share of cases
17.9 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
27.5%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
4%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
10.7%
Appeals remanded or reversed
56 appeals decided
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
11.7%
206 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
6%
349 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
70.6%⚠
34 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
100%⚠
3 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
100%⚠
20 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
88.9%⚠
36 decisions Too few cases
11.7%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 206 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
11.7%
This court
6.9%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the bottom 22% 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 · 181 decisions since 2021
11%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 25 decisions since 2021
16%
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).