Appointed March 2020 · President Donald Trump→ Attorney General William P. Barr
6 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Republican administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Luis Maldonado earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2001 from Stetson University and a Juris Doctor in 2004 from the University of Florida, Levin College of Law. He worked as an immigration staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association (2004-2006) and served with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as assistant chief counsel and deputy chief counsel in Orlando, as an associate legal advisor in the National Security Law Section in Washington, D.C., and as associate counsel with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Atlanta (2016-2020). He was appointed an immigration judge in March 2020 and is a member of the Florida State Bar.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
1,189
Completions per year
7,135 total
3.5%
Detained at decision
share of cases
24.8 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
29.8%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
2.2%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
12.1%
Appeals remanded or reversed
33 appeals decided
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
31.2%
221 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
5.7%
318 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
35.5%⚠
31 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
100%⚠
4 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
85.7%⚠
7 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
96.4%
55 decisions Moderate
31.2%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 221 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
31.2%
This court
28%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 42% 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 · 210 decisions since 2021
32.4%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 11 decisions since 2021
9.1%
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).