The Honorable Immigration Judge Gita Vahid-Tehrani
Los Angeles — West, CA Immigration Court
Appointed January 2002 · President George W. Bush→ Attorney General John Ashcroft(AG inferred from date)
24 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Republican administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Gita Vahid-Tehrani earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1984 from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Juris Doctor from Whittier Law School in 1991. Before her appointment, she served as an assistant district counsel for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service in Los Angeles from October 1991 to January 2002. She is a member of the California and Pennsylvania Bars.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
558
Completions per year
2,792 total
0.4%
Detained at decision
share of cases
44.9 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
7%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
1.4%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
—
Appeals remanded or reversed
only 10 appeals — too few
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
76.3%
93 decisions Moderate
Withholding / CAT
40%
50 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
98.6%
74 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
100%⚠
8 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
97.8%⚠
45 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
100%⚠
12 decisions Too few cases
76.3%
of asylum claims granted on the merits Moderate
Based on 93 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
76.3%
This court
32.6%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 6% 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 · 92 decisions since 2021
76.1%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 1 decision since 2021
100%
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).