Appointed August 2000 · President Bill Clinton→ Attorney General Janet Reno(AG inferred from date)
26 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Michael W Straus earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1982 from Carleton College and a Juris Doctor in 1985 from the Washington University School of Law. He served as an attorney for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Los Angeles (1985-1988), in private practice at Barst & Shusterman (1988-1993), and as a senior adjudications officer and acting branch chief with the INS in Washington, D.C. (1993-1997). From March 1997 to August 2000 he served as counsel to the Chief Immigration Judge. He is a member of the California Bar.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
2,142
Completions per year
12,851 total
0.5%
Detained at decision
share of cases
28 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
31.6%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
9.7%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
10.1%
Appeals remanded or reversed
238 appeals decided
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
25%
1,678 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
1.5%
2,003 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
49.8%
203 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
100%⚠
6 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
91.1%
124 decisions Moderate
Voluntary departure
97.8%
178 decisions Moderate
25%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 1,678 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
25%
This court
32.4%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the bottom 49% 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 · 1,539 decisions since 2021
26.1%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 139 decisions since 2021
12.2%
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).