Appointed April 2009 · President Barack Obama→ Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.(AG inferred from date)
17 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Rodin Rooyani earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1995 from George Mason University and a Juris Doctor in 1998 from the University of Maryland School of Law. She entered the Department of Justice through the Attorney General's Honors Program, serving as a trial attorney with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service and an assistant chief counsel with the Department of Homeland Security from 1998 to 2004. From November 2004 to April 2009 she was an assistant U.S. attorney assigned to the National Security Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, handling counterterrorism and counterespionage cases. She is a member of the Maryland State Bar and the State Bar of California.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
246
Completions per year
1,476 total
1.6%
Detained at decision
share of cases
23 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
42.7%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
2%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
—
Appeals remanded or reversed
only 1 appeals — too few
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
14%
50 decisions Moderate
Withholding / CAT
5.5%
73 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
87.2%
86 decisions Moderate
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
0%⚠
1 decision Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
76.9%⚠
13 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
95%⚠
20 decisions Too few cases
14%
of asylum claims granted on the merits Moderate
Based on 50 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
14%
This court
32.6%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the bottom 29% 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 lawyer⚠represented · 30 decisions since 2021
16.7%
Without a lawyer⚠unrepresented · 20 decisions since 2021
10%
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).