The Honorable Immigration Judge Shuting Chen

San Francisco, CA Immigration Court
Appointed October 2022 · President Joe Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland
3 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Caseload & process (since 2021)
672
Completions per year
4,032 total
2.2%
Detained at decision
share of cases
30.5 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
13.4%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
3.9%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
Appeals remanded or reversed
only 5 appeals — too few

Grant rates by type of relief

Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
86.2% 958 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
15% 220 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
75% 12 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
0% 1 decision Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
100% 18 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
94.4% 18 decisions Too few cases
86.2%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 958 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
86.2%
This court
68.2%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 2% 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 · 932 decisions since 2021
86.6%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 26 decisions since 2021
73.1%

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.
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%2018: 0% of 2 decisions0%20182019: 0% of 4 decisions0%20192022: 100% of 46 decisions100%20222023: 96.1% of 355 decisions96.1%20232024: 88.7% of 257 decisions88.7%20242025: 70.6% of 299 decisions70.6%20252026 (partial year): 0% of 1 decisions0%2026*
* 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).
San Francisco, CA · home court
3,923 (97%)
12 (0.30%)
8 (0.20%)
7 (0.17%)
6 (0.15%)
6 (0.15%)