The Honorable Immigration Judge Morris I Onyewuchi
Los Fresnos (PIS), TX Immigration Court
Appointed March 2016 · President Barack Obama→ Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch
10 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Morris I Onyewuchi earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1990 from Georgia State University, a Juris Doctor in 2002 from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, and a Master of Studies in International Human Rights Law in 2010 from the University of Oxford. From 2002 through February 2016 he served as an assistant chief counsel and trial attorney for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He was appointed as an immigration judge in March 2016.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
1,329
Completions per year
6,644 total
43.3%
Detained at decision
share of cases
0.6 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
1.7%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
1.5%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
20.9%
Appeals remanded or reversed
86 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.
70.3%
Bond requests granted
394 bond decisions High confidence
$5,000
Median bond when set
259 bonds with amounts
1.1%
Released on own recognizance
This judge 70.3%
Court average 43.6% · median $7,500
National 41.9% · median $6,500
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
5.5%
347 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
2.6%
755 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
0%⚠
18 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
39.3%⚠
28 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
83.6%
140 decisions Moderate
5.5%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 347 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
5.5%
This court
8.3%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the bottom 8% 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 · 106 decisions since 2021
7.5%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 241 decisions since 2021
4.6%
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).