Appointed October 2020 · President Donald Trump→ Attorney General William P. Barr
5 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Republican administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Patrick J. Ehlers earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1989 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Juris Doctor in 1993 from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He spent much of his career in indigent defense, serving as a capital post-conviction defense counsel and assistant public defender in Oklahoma (1993-2003) and as an assistant federal public defender in Portland, Oregon (2003-2015), before becoming an assistant U.S. attorney in Portland (2015-2020). He was appointed an immigration judge in October 2020 and is a member of the Oklahoma, Oregon, and U.S. Virgin Islands Bars.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
625
Completions per year
2,499 total
0.7%
Detained at decision
share of cases
12.6 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
23.8%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
5.3%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
6.8%
Appeals remanded or reversed
44 appeals decided
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
52.7%
260 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
10.3%
243 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
13.6%⚠
22 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
100%⚠
6 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
93.4%
76 decisions Moderate
Voluntary departure
91.7%⚠
36 decisions Too few cases
52.7%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 260 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
52.7%
This court
38.3%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 16% 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 · 255 decisions since 2021
53.7%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 5 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).