Appointed January 1984 · President Ronald Reagan→ Attorney General William French Smith(AG inferred from date)
42 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Republican administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Robert D Vinikoor was selected under the Department of Justice Honors Program and began in 1976 as a nationality attorney with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service in Miami, Florida. He served as a trial attorney in Chicago from 1978 to 1982 and was appointed a special assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago in 1984. He was appointed an immigration judge in January 1984 and served on the Chicago Immigration Court.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
2
Completions per year
2 total
50%
Detained at decision
share of cases
—
Median time to decision
from case start
0%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
0%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
—
Appeals remanded or reversed
This judge has no asylum decisions on the merits in this period (since 2021).
Representation comparison unavailable.
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).