The Honorable Immigration Judge Theodora N Kouris

New York — Federal Plaza, NY Immigration Court
Appointed October 2019 · President Donald Trump Attorney General William P. Barr
6 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Republican administration
Caseload & process (since 2021)
902
Completions per year
5,414 total
2.3%
Detained at decision
share of cases
23.7 mo
Median time to decision
from case start
20.9%
Ordered removed in absentia
person absent
2.3%
Decisions appealed to BIA
appeal rate
Appeals remanded or reversed
only 6 appeals — too few

Grant rates by type of relief

Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
82% 867 decisions High confidence
Withholding / CAT
12.6% 253 decisions High confidence
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
73.9% 46 decisions Too few cases
Cancellation — 42A (LPR)
100% 3 decisions Too few cases
Adjustment of status (245)
94.6% 56 decisions Moderate
Voluntary departure
85.7% 7 decisions Too few cases
82%
of asylum claims granted on the merits High confidence
Based on 867 asylum decisions (grants + denials) since 2021.
This judge
82%
This court
57.3%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
In the top 4% 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 · 825 decisions since 2021
85%
Without a lawyerunrepresented · 42 decisions since 2021
23.8%

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%2016: 66.7% of 3 decisions66.7%20162017: 0% of 1 decisions0%20172018: 0% of 5 decisions0%20182019: 56.8% of 44 decisions56.8%20192020: 59.5% of 79 decisions59.5%20202021: 96.7% of 91 decisions96.7%20212022: 90.7% of 226 decisions90.7%20222023: 94.1% of 136 decisions94.1%20232024: 88.7% of 212 decisions88.7%20242025: 50.5% of 198 decisions50.5%20252026 (partial year): 50% of 4 decisions50%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).
New York, NY · home court
5,310 (98%)
17 (0.31%)
8 (0.15%)
8 (0.15%)
5 (0.09%)
5 (0.09%)