Appointed November 2011 · President Barack Obama→ Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.
14 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge R. Wayne Kimball earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1983 and a Master of Arts in 1984, both from Johns Hopkins University, and a Juris Doctor in 1988 from Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as administrative editor of the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal. He was a law clerk at the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge (1987-1988), a trial attorney for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Dallas (1988-1994), and deputy district counsel for the former INS in New York (1994-2001). From 2001 to 2011 he served as an administrative judge for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Dallas. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
362
Completions per year
724 total
11.9%
Detained at decision
share of cases
36.2 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
0.6%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
17.3%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
1.9%
Appeals remanded or reversed
52 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.
7.7%⚠
Bond requests granted
13 bond decisions Too few cases
$9,250
Median bond when set
2 bonds with amounts
0%
Released on own recognizance
This judge 7.7%
Court average 24% · median $10,000
National 41.9% · median $6,500
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
16%
106 decisions Moderate
Withholding / CAT
1.2%
167 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
11.8%⚠
34 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
75%⚠
4 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
55.6%⚠
9 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
63.3%⚠
30 decisions Too few cases
16%
of asylum claims granted on the merits Moderate
Based on 106 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
16%
This court
14.1%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the bottom 33% 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 · 99 decisions since 2021
17.2%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 7 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).