Appointed February 2023 · President Joe Biden→ Attorney General Merrick Garland
3 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Jennie L Kneedler earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1998 from Bowdoin College and a Juris Doctor in 2004 from Yale Law School. From 2021 to 2022 she was a managing attorney in the Detained Adult Program at the Capital Area Immigrants' Rights Coalition, and from 2018 to 2021 served as director of policy and pro bono at the American Bar Association's Commission on Immigration. From 2011 to 2018 she was a trial attorney and senior trial counsel in the Federal Programs Branch of the DOJ Civil Division, and earlier was an associate at Steptoe & Johnson LLP and a federal district court law clerk.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
665
Completions per year
3,327 total
0.7%
Detained at decision
share of cases
33.7 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
29.1%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
7.8%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
18.5%
Appeals remanded or reversed
27 appeals decided
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
34.5%
397 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
5%
464 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
13%⚠
23 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
100%⚠
10 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
82.6%⚠
46 decisions Too few cases
34.5%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 397 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
34.5%
This court
26.2%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 37% 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 · 378 decisions since 2021
36.2%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 19 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.
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).