The Honorable Immigration Judge Demetrius Tavares Cheeks was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in July 2026. Judge Cheeks earned a Bachelor of Science in 2001 from Southern University at New Orleans and a Juris Doctor in 2004 from Southern University Law Center. From June 2021 to December 2024, he served as a hearing officer at the U.S. Coast Guard Hearing Office in Washington, D.C. From July 2019 to June 2021, he served as a senior attorney at the U.S. Coast Guard Counterintelligence Service in Washington, D.C. From June 2016 to July 2019, he served as chief, Command Services Division for the U.S. Coast Guard Legal Services Command in Alameda, California. From June 2013 to June 2016, he served as a principal legal advisor at the U.S. Coast Guard Intelligence Coordination Center in Washington, D.C. From June 2010 to June 2013, he served as a logistics officer at U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Juan in San Juan, Puerto Rico. From February 2006 to June 2013, he served as a staff attorney for the U.S. Coast Guard, Eighth Coast Guard District in New Orleans. Judge Cheeks is a member of the State Bar of Texas.