The Honorable Immigration Judge Thomas Michael O'Leary
Tucson, AZ Immigration Court
Appointed April 1997 · President Bill Clinton→ Attorney General Janet Reno(AG inferred from date)
29 years on the immigration bench
Appointed under a Democratic administration
Background
The Honorable Immigration Judge Thomas Michael O'Leary earned a Bachelor of Arts from Herbert H. Lehman College, City University of New York, in 1974, and a Juris Doctor from Seattle University School of Law in 1977. He served as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Washington (1977-1978), as a U.S. Army judge advocate (1978-1986), as assistant district counsel for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Phoenix (1987), and as sector counsel for the Border Patrol in Tucson, Arizona (1987-1997), during which he also served as a special assistant U.S. attorney in Arizona.
Caseload & process (since 2021)
11
Completions per year
34 total
2.9%
Detained at decision
share of cases
33 mo
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
Grant rates by type of relief
Share granted among merits decisions for each application type, since 2021.
Asylum
0%⚠
1 decision Too few cases
Withholding / CAT
0%⚠
1 decision Too few cases
Cancellation — 42B (non-LPR)
100%⚠
13 decisions Too few cases
0%⚠
of asylum claims granted on the merits
Based on 1 asylum decision (grants + denials) since 2021. Fewer than 50 — treat this figure with caution.
This judge
0%
This court
28.2%
National average
31.8%
0%100% granted
Does a lawyer matter here?
Asylum grant rate by whether the person had legal representation.
With a lawyer⚠represented · 1 decision since 2021
0%
Without a lawyerunrepresented
no data
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).