The Honorable Immigration Judge Dustin Joseph Johnson

Portland, OR Immigration Court
Appointed May 2024 · President Joe Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland (AG inferred from date)
2 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration

Background

The Honorable Immigration Judge Dustin Joseph Johnson earned a Bachelor of Arts (2003) from the University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor (2010) from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. From 2022 to 2024 he served as a hearing officer for the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, City of New York. Earlier, he was an attorney for the New York Fire Department (2021-2022), a supervising attorney for the Administration for Children's Services (2018-2021), and in private immigration practice (2010-2018).

Caseload & process (since 2021)
589
Completions per year
3,532 total
2.6%
Detained at decision
share of cases
19.8 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
27.4%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
12.1%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
0%
Appeals remanded or reversed
23 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.
0%
Bond requests granted
1 bond decision Too few cases
Median bond when set
Released on own recognizance
This judge 0%
Court average 55.6% · median $2,500
National 41.9% · median $6,500

Grant rates by type of relief

Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
11.6% 458 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
1.3% 615 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
0% 10 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
0% 3 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
50% 2 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
66.7% 39 decisions Too few cases
11.6%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 458 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
11.6%
This court
26.6%
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 · 385 decisions since 2021
13.8%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 73 decisions since 2021
0%

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%2023: 0% of 1 decisions0%20232024: 21.5% of 177 decisions21.5%20242025: 5.4% of 280 decisions5.4%2025

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).
Portland, OR · home court
3,416 (97%)
11 (0.31%)
9 (0.25%)
8 (0.23%)
6 (0.17%)