Chelmsford immigration court
Address
Chelmsford Immigration Court: 150 Apollo Drive, Suite 100, Chelmsford, MA 01824
Court decisions over 12 months
In plain words
Out of every 100 cases decided in this court, 5 got relief. Even so, most end without relief.
21 of every 100 cases were decided in absentia, that is, without the person at the hearing.
With an attorney, 10 of every 100 got relief; without one, 0 of every 100 (10.2 % and 0.1 %).
Of the 6,093 decisions in this court, 327 ended with relief, 875 with the case closed, 475 with voluntary departure and 4,416 with a removal order.
| Outcome | Decisions | % |
|---|---|---|
| Relief | 327 | 5.4 % |
| Case closed | 875 | 14.4 % |
| Voluntary departure | 475 | 7.8 % |
| Removal order | 4,416 | 72.5 % |
| Decided in absentia | 1,278 | 21.0 % |
This court and the nation
With the Chelmsford court, the share of cases with relief is 5.4 %: higher than nationwide (2.4 %).
With the Chelmsford court, the share of removal orders is 72.5 %: lower than nationwide (75.6 %).
With the Chelmsford court, the share of cases decided in absentia is 21.0 %: lower than nationwide (45.3 %).
With the Chelmsford court, the share of people with an attorney is 52.2 %: higher than nationwide (38.1 %).
Cases with the Chelmsford court take about the same as nationwide: a median of 785 days versus 793.
With and without an attorney
| Decisions | Relief | |
|---|---|---|
| With an attorney | 3,180 | 10.2 % |
| Without an attorney | 2,913 | 0.1 % |
Compared with other courts
- Ranked 11 of 71 courts for relief (1 = most relief).
- Ranked 49 of 71 courts for cases decided in absentia (1 = most in absentia).
Decisions per month (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026)
The busiest month was Jul 2026 (906 decisions) and the quietest Feb 2026 (286).
| Month | Decisions | Relief | In absentia | Vs. prior month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 485 | 21 | 25 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 389 | 25 | 19 | down |
| Nov 2025 | 397 | 30 | 16 | up |
| Dec 2025 | 312 | 18 | 12 | down |
| Jan 2026 | 372 | 27 | 30 | up |
| Feb 2026 | 286 | 17 | 8 | down |
| Mar 2026 | 500 | 51 | 19 | up |
| Apr 2026 | 528 | 35 | 30 | up |
| May 2026 | 320 | 39 | 6 | down |
| Jun 2026 | 749 | 34 | 277 | up |
| Jul 2026 | 906 | 14 | 378 | up |
| Aug 2026 | 849 | 16 | 458 | down |
Months with fewer than 5 decisions are dotted: with so few cases, that month's percentage says little.
Judges at this court
13 judges have this as their main court in the window (4 with limited data). The one who decided the most was Christine Olson, with 2,083 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 Christine Olson | 2,083 | 0.9 % | 58.4 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Yul-mi Cho | 1,173 | 5.5 % | 9.4 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Natalie Smith | 973 | 5.7 % | 1.6 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Huy Le | 941 | 10.6 % | 21.5 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Nina Froes | 607 | 9.6 % | 16.6 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Luciana Dubuc | 544 | 1.3 % | 6.3 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge James Jordan | 363 | 0.3 % | 82.1 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Kathryn E. Frames | 111 | 0.0 % | 3.6 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Julian R. Nierva | 82 | 1.2 % | 48.8 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Michael Sullivan | 23 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |
| Judge Sameer Ahmed | 1 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |
| Judge Hannah Kubica | 1 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |
| Judge Donald Ostrom | 1 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |