The Honorable Immigration Judge Joseph T Leonard

Harlingen, TX Immigration Court
Appointed September 2018 · President Donald Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions
7 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Republican administration

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Caseload & process (since 2021)
2,272
Completions per year
13,630 total
11.3%
Detained at decision
share of cases
13.3 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
27%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
1.8%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
15.6%
Appeals remanded or reversed
64 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.
58.9%
Bond requests granted
112 bond decisions Moderate
$5,000
Median bond when set
64 bonds with amounts
0%
Released on own recognizance
This judge 58.9%
Court average 29.4% · median $8,250
National 41.9% · median $6,500

Grant rates by type of relief

Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
22.4% 245 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
8% 410 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
19.4% 98 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
70.6% 17 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
66.7% 27 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
84% 262 decisions High confidence
22.4%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 245 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
22.4%
This court
18.7%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the bottom 45% 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 · 203 decisions since 2021
27.1%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 42 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%2015: 0% of 1 decisions0%20152017: 0% of 1 decisions0%20172018: 16.7% of 6 decisions16.7%20182019: 21.6% of 171 decisions21.6%20192020: 12.2% of 41 decisions12.2%20202021: 47.6% of 21 decisions47.6%20212022: 30.9% of 55 decisions30.9%20222023: 25.7% of 35 decisions25.7%20232024: 7.1% of 42 decisions7.1%20242025: 17.9% of 78 decisions17.9%20252026 (partial year): 14.3% of 14 decisions14.3%2026*
* 2026 is a partial year (data through 06/01/2026) and is incomplete.

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).
Harlingen, TX · home court
13,058 (96%)
329 (2.4%)
196 (1.4%)
25 (0.18%)
4 (0.03%)
2 (0.01%)