The Honorable Immigration Judge Jesse B Christensen
New York — Broadway, NY Immigration Court
Appointed October 2010 · President Barack Obama→ Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
15 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Jesse B Christensen earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1997 from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Juris Doctor in 2000 from the University of Iowa College of Law. He supervised the immigration unit in the Staff Attorneys' Office of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2006-2010), taught legal writing at American University's Washington College of Law (2005-2006), served as an attorney at the Federal Election Commission (2002-2005), and was in private practice in Chicago (2001-2002).
Caseload & process (since 2021)
806
Completions per year
4,833 total
0.1%
Detained at decision
share of cases
9.3 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
19.1%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
24%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
3.7%
Appeals remanded or reversed
1,009 appeals decided
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
14.8%
1,758 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
1.6%
2,875 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
99%
98 decisions Moderate
Adjustment of status (245)
100%⚠
16 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
94.6%⚠
37 decisions Too few cases
14.8%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 1,758 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
14.8%
This court
33.3%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the bottom 31% 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 · 1,050 decisions since 2021
20.5%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 708 decisions since 2021
6.5%
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).