Buffalo immigration court
Address
Buffalo Immigration Court: 130 Delaware Avenue, Suite 300, Buffalo, NY 14202
Court decisions over 12 months
In plain words
Out of every 100 cases decided in this court, 3 got relief. The vast majority end without relief.
25 of every 100 cases were decided in absentia, that is, without the person at the hearing.
With and without an attorney, the share with relief was similar (4.5 % and 0.5 %).
Of the 5,298 decisions in this court, 136 ended with relief, 457 with the case closed, 978 with voluntary departure and 3,727 with a removal order.
| Outcome | Decisions | % |
|---|---|---|
| Relief | 136 | 2.6 % |
| Case closed | 457 | 8.6 % |
| Voluntary departure | 978 | 18.5 % |
| Removal order | 3,727 | 70.4 % |
| Decided in absentia | 1,341 | 25.3 % |
This court and the nation
With the Buffalo court, the share of cases with relief is 2.6 %: similar than nationwide (2.4 %).
With the Buffalo court, the share of removal orders is 70.4 %: lower than nationwide (75.6 %).
With the Buffalo court, the share of cases decided in absentia is 25.3 %: lower than nationwide (45.3 %).
With the Buffalo court, the share of people with an attorney is 51.7 %: higher than nationwide (38.1 %).
Cases with the Buffalo court take less time than nationwide: a median of 729 days versus 793.
With and without an attorney
| Decisions | Relief | |
|---|---|---|
| With an attorney | 2,740 | 4.5 % |
| Without an attorney | 2,558 | 0.5 % |
Compared with other courts
- Ranked 35 of 71 courts for relief (1 = most relief).
- Ranked 46 of 71 courts for cases decided in absentia (1 = most in absentia).
Decisions per month (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026)
The busiest month was Jun 2026 (736 decisions) and the quietest Nov 2025 (339).
| Month | Decisions | Relief | In absentia | Vs. prior month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 471 | 35 | 126 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 396 | 19 | 118 | down |
| Nov 2025 | 339 | 9 | 67 | down |
| Dec 2025 | 365 | 6 | 76 | up |
| Jan 2026 | 434 | 7 | 86 | up |
| Feb 2026 | 346 | 5 | 78 | down |
| Mar 2026 | 408 | 16 | 86 | up |
| Apr 2026 | 347 | 4 | 72 | down |
| May 2026 | 376 | 4 | 93 | up |
| Jun 2026 | 736 | 7 | 298 | up |
| Jul 2026 | 528 | 7 | 116 | down |
| Aug 2026 | 552 | 17 | 125 | up |
Months with fewer than 5 decisions are dotted: with so few cases, that month's percentage says little.
Judges at this court
10 judges have this as their main court in the window (2 with limited data). The one who decided the most was Mary C. Baumgarten, with 1,998 decisions.
Sorted by decisions over 12 months. The label compares each judge with the other judges in the court.
| Judge | Decisions | Relief | In absentia | Vs. the court |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judge Mary C. Baumgarten | 1,998 | 0.9 % | 32.0 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Brandi Lohr | 1,493 | 2.6 % | 35.8 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Brian Counihan | 1,324 | 0.6 % | 20.4 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Eric Schultz | 451 | 4.7 % | 5.5 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Steven J. Connelly | 199 | 7.5 % | 37.2 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Christopher Staszak | 128 | 1.6 % | 24.2 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Walter H. Ruehle | 117 | 13.7 % | 31.6 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Ubaid ul-Haq | 107 | 15.0 % | 0.0 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Alexander Rubin | 19 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |
| Judge Denise Hochul | 10 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |