The Honorable Immigration Judge Steven M Kirchner

San Francisco, CA Immigration Court
Appointed October 2021 · President Joe Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland
4 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration

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Caseload & process (since 2021)
977
Completions per year
5,862 total
1.2%
Detained at decision
share of cases
18.4 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
27.6%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
9.8%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
9.6%
Appeals remanded or reversed
510 appeals decided

Grant rates by type of relief

Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
52.4% 1,584 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
1.8% 987 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
96.7% 121 decisions Moderate
Adjustment of status (245)
100% 16 decisions Too few cases
Voluntary departure
96.2% 106 decisions Moderate
52.4%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 1,584 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
52.4%
This court
68.2%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 17% 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 · 1,265 decisions since 2021
54.9%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 319 decisions since 2021
42.3%

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%2017: 0% of 2 decisions0%20172021: 100% of 6 decisions100%20212022: 70.1% of 301 decisions70.1%20222023: 69.8% of 377 decisions69.8%20232024: 55.5% of 328 decisions55.5%20242025: 35.4% of 446 decisions35.4%20252026 (partial year): 7.9% of 126 decisions7.9%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
5,687 (97%)
39 (0.67%)
26 (0.44%)
16 (0.27%)
7 (0.12%)
7 (0.12%)