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 Raisa Cohen earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in 2002 from Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business and a Juris Doctor in 2007 from St. John's University School of Law. She served as an assistant chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from April 2009 to September 2014 and again from September 2015 to February 2016. Between those roles, she was an attorney at Cohen & Cohen Law Group PC from October 2014 to September 2015, and earlier worked as an immigration attorney at the Law Firm of Ted Sofer from 2007 to 2009. Judge Cohen is a member of the New York State Bar.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
532
Completions per year
3,189 total
2.1%
Detained at decision
share of cases
37.1 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
11.1%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
1.2%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
—
Appeals remanded or reversed
only 7 appeals — too few
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
92%
448 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
40%
75 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
95.6%
68 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
100%⚠
5 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
98.5%
67 decisions Moderate
Voluntary departure
100%⚠
4 decisions Too few cases
92%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 448 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
92%
This court
57.3%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 1% 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 · 444 decisions since 2021
92.3%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 4 decisions since 2021
50%
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).