Appointed August 2018 · President Donald Trump→ Attorney General Jeff Sessions
8 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Republican administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Kathleen French earned a Bachelor of Science in 1982 from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and a Juris Doctor in 1997 from George Mason University. Before her appointment, she served as an assistant chief counsel and deputy chief counsel with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Denver, Georgia, and Florida (2000-2018), as a judicial law clerk for the Executive Office for Immigration Review in Miami (1999-2000) and for the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami (1997-1999), and as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and later in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Reserve.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
331
Completions per year
993 total
28.1%
Detained at decision
share of cases
0.9 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
0%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
2.1%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
—
Appeals remanded or reversed
only 18 appeals — too few
Bond decisions
Custody redetermination (bond) rulings since 2021.
"Granted" means the judge lowered the bond, ordered release on recognizance, or otherwise granted the request.
18.7%
Bond requests granted
155 bond decisions Moderate
$10,000
Median bond when set
48 bonds with amounts
0%
Released on own recognizance
This judge 18.7%
Court average 16.2% · median $5,000
National 41.9% · median $6,500
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
2.7%
75 decisions Moderate
Withholding / CAT
0.7%
148 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
0%⚠
3 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
50%⚠
6 decisions Too few cases
2.7%
of asylum claims granted on the merits Moderate
Based on 75 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
2.7%
This court
24.9%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the bottom 4% 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 lawyer⚠represented · 31 decisions since 2021
6.5%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 44 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).