There Is No Such Thing as a Tough Immigration Judge

A recent article in the Sun Sentinel (Broward County, Florida) got me thinking about what it means to be a “tough” Immigration Judge.

Judge Ford, pictured here at his Senior Prom.
Judge Ford, pictured here at his Senior Prom.

The article discusses Judge Rex. J. Ford, who will be celebrating (if that is the right word) 20 years on the bench this April. According to the Sun Sentinel, “In 96 percent of the 2,057 proceedings Ford completed in fiscal 2011, he ordered the person removed from the country.” Judge Ford told the paper: “I follow the book and I don’t get reversed.” The article also notes that Judge Ford is a registered Republican who “garnered attention in 2008 with the release of a U.S. Justice Department report that named him as playing a role in recommending the appointment of immigration judges based on their political leanings.” Judge Ford denied that he considered party affiliation in advocating for specific job candidates.

First, I suppose the Sun Sentinel mentions that Judge Ford is a Republican because Republicans are considered “tougher” on immigration than Democrats (this, despite the fact that President Obama has deported record numbers of illegal immigrants during each year of his Administration). I can’t help but think that this is an unfortunate stereotype–at least to some extent. Maybe I will write a post about that subject in the future, but for now, I will just note that Judge Ford was appointed during the Clinton Administration. In this post, I am more interested in how we decide which IJs are “tough.”

The most objective measure of an IJ’s “toughness” is his asylum denial rate, which can be found at TRAC Immigration, a website affiliated with Syracuse University. The toughest Judges are the ones with the highest denial rates. By this measure, Judge Ford is pretty tough. Of the 256 IJs examined by TRAC, only three deported people at a higher rate than Judge Ford. Does this mean that he is tough? Or does it mean that he doesn’t know what he is doing? Or something else?

Whenever a judge’s denial rate deviates significantly from the mean, it raises a red flag. In Judge Ford’s case, his denial rate of 93.3% is much higher than the national average of 53.2%. But I think it is more important to compare his denial rate with the local average. Why? Because local factors significantly impact denial rates. In Judge Ford’s case, the aliens he sees are all detained. Denial rates for detained asylum seekers are much higher than rates for non-detained aliens. In part because such aliens are less likely to be represented by attorneys and have a more difficult time gathering evidence, but mostly (I think) because such aliens often have no valid defense to removal, and so they tend to file weak (or frivolous) asylum claims as a last-ditch attempt to remain in the United States. Also, many detained aliens are ineligible for asylum due to criminal convictions or the one-year asylum bar. Comparing Judge Ford to his local colleagues, his denial rate does not seem particularly unusual. The denial rate for other IJs at Miami’s Krome Detention Facility (where Judge Ford is listed on the TRAC website) is 89.8%. So while Judge Ford is probably not an “easy” judge, if he were relocated to a different court, with a non-detained docket, I bet that he would grant a lot more cases.

Speaking more generally, where an IJ with a non-detained docket denies asylum cases at a significantly higher level than his local colleagues, I don’t see that as a sign of “toughness.” I see it as a failure to properly apply the law. The INA, the CFR, and various precedent decision from the BIA and the federal courts provide guidance to IJs about how to make decisions. They set forth how to determine if an alien is credible (consistent testimony and submission of reasonably available evidence). They define “persecution,” nexus, and the different protected grounds. In reaching a decision, an IJ is obliged to follow these laws; he is not permitted to “go with his gut.” In my experience, most IJs do their best to follow the law. Therefore, if one IJ stands out in terms of her denial rate (whether it is too high or too low), something is wrong.

In deciding an asylum case, it is not the IJ’s job to be tough or easy; it is her job to analyze the facts in the context of the law. Where an IJ’s denial rate differs significantly from the local average, it may be a sign that the IJ is not following the law. In such a case, the IJ’s supervisors should determine what is happening and whether additional training or some other corrective action is necessary.

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17 comments

  1. All is well Jason?

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    • I am still kicking, so I guess that is good. Take care, Jason

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  2. The argument in this post would be valid if it wasn’t for the fact that there is a list of immigration lawyers that won’t take cases in Broward county because Judge Rex J Ford is the appointed Judge. I do agree with the post in the sense that he is not though. This judge is racist and a chauvinist with detainees and lawyers alike.

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    • That may be correct. The point of the post was to say that either judges follow the law or they do not. Now that we have an Administration that does not believe in the rule of law, I suppose judges who do not follow the law will fit in very well. Take care, Jason

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  3. estuve en Broward aproximadamente 7 meses, cuando estaba allí, las personas que estaban en custodia nadie les daba fianza, sin embargo este juez al 70 por ciento de personas que los representaba un abogado creo que se llamaba Edward Cifuentes les daban fianza, eso ocurrió a mediados del 2014, nunca me explique como este juez a las personas que iban representadas con este abogado les concedía la fianza pero a las personas que íbamos representados con otro abogado no, nunca entendí eso, podrán creer que es mentira mía.

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    • Lo siento, mi Espanola no es suficiente Para responder, Jason

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  4. My husband is detained at Broward now. He has no criminal record and filed asylum at the US border. He passed credible fear…but ICE placed at 7500 dollar bond and they called us lucky…where am I going to find the money??? I don’t blame the judge I only pray he will be fair.

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    • I was deported by this same judge in 2011. When I was inside the broward detention center and hired a lawyer, the first thing she told me, was that we were going to have a hard time with this judge. My family went to the US when I was only 10 years old, I didn’t have a choice to go or not because I was just a kid. When I was 21, ICE caught me and sent me to the Broward Detention Center (BDC). I NEVER had a criminal record. Although I had already been in the US for over 10 years the judge thought the right decision was to deport me. Unfortunately I had to pay for my parrents choices, all my friends, all my life, my culture was all in the US and I had to leave to a country that I barely knew.

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      • Thankfully though, today I’m doing just fine. I got accustomed to my Brazilian culture, and I love it here. However I do think it was a terrible choice of his part, being that I spent years in the public school system, using up taxpayers dollars to learn, and when the time came to go to college and hopefully graduate to contribute back I was deported.

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        • While I think you were a victim in this situation, the Judge’s choices are limited by the law. Unless you had some form of relief available, even the most lenient judge would have had to deport you. This is exactly why we need immigration law reform, so that the system can be more fair, and that we do not lose people who benefit our society. Anyway, I am glad to hear you are doing well. Many people who end up being deported do just fine when they go to their country of citizenship – and in many cases, the loss is ours (i.e., the United States’). Take care, Jason

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  5. Judge Rex Ford ordered me deported on August 24, 2004. I am a convicted aggravated felon. I was given respect and a lot of time to prepare for my case, almost 4 years. Judge Ford was fair, non confrontational and followed the law. Plain and simple. I read all this negative feedback against Judge Ford but what is a judge to do. He must follow the law. The truth is that America is a very kind country and people like me took advantage of that. It’s not fair for the other person who is doing right. Thank you.

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    • It takes a lot of self awareness to write what you said here – Thank you for the comment. Take care, Jason

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      • Thank you Jason. My mind is clear and I have a purpose in life now. I am happy. My whole family lives in the US and they are all USC. I have their support and trust. I work along side many American citizens as well and I am open and clear to them about my past. They don’t judge me for what I did in the past. We get along well. Some of them when they have the time bring me clothes and i-phones from the US. America is the land of second chances. I am planing to file a 212 waiver form next year. God knows.

        Blessings, Daniel

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        • Hi Jason. Could you give me any information about the Adoptee Citizenship Act which was introduced in 2015. Tank you.

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          • Sorry, I do not know about that. Take care, Jason

          • Jason check the website CONGRESS.GOV and then go to Adoptee Citizenship ct of 2015 which amends the Immigration Nationality Act and grants automatic citizenship to adoptees regardless of the date the adoption was finalized…

          • Thank you, but I do not do any such cases, so this is not relevant to my practice. Take care, Jason

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