Appointed March 2022 · President Joe Biden→ Attorney General Merrick Garland
4 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Kyle Dandelet earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2004 from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor in 2010 from Harvard Law School. From 2017 to 2022, he was the pro bono immigration attorney at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York, and from 2015 to 2017 he was a senior staff attorney in Sanctuary for Families' Immigration Intervention Project at the New York City Family Justice Center in the Bronx. He was a litigation associate with Cleary Gottlieb from 2010 to 2012 and 2013 to 2015, and clerked for the Honorable Naomi Reice Buchwald of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 2012 to 2013. Judge Dandelet is a member of the New York State Bar.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
1,407
Completions per year
8,441 total
1.7%
Detained at decision
share of cases
17.3 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
27.7%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
2.1%
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
58.1%
1,081 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
8.1%
725 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
38.2%⚠
34 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
100%⚠
4 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
95.5%
112 decisions Moderate
Voluntary departure
96.9%⚠
32 decisions Too few cases
58.1%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 1,081 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
58.1%
This court
57.3%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 13% 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 · 844 decisions since 2021
74.1%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 237 decisions since 2021
1.3%
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.
* 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).