Harlingen immigration court
Address
Harlingen Immigration Court: 2009 West Jefferson Avenue, Suite 300, Harlingen, TX 78550
Court decisions over 12 months
In plain words
Fewer than 1 in 100 cases decided in this court got relief (36 of 7,768).
7 of every 10 cases were decided in absentia, without the person at the hearing. Going to your hearing is the most important thing you can do.
With and without an attorney, the share with relief was similar (2.0 % and 0.0 %).
Of the 7,768 decisions in this court, 36 ended with relief, 916 with the case closed, 422 with voluntary departure and 6,394 with a removal order.
| Outcome | Decisions | % |
|---|---|---|
| Relief | 36 | 0.5 % |
| Case closed | 916 | 11.8 % |
| Voluntary departure | 422 | 5.4 % |
| Removal order | 6,394 | 82.3 % |
| Decided in absentia | 5,379 | 69.3 % |
This court and the nation
With the Harlingen court, the share of cases with relief is 0.5 %: lower than nationwide (2.4 %).
With the Harlingen court, the share of removal orders is 82.3 %: higher than nationwide (75.6 %).
With the Harlingen court, the share of cases decided in absentia is 69.3 %: higher than nationwide (45.3 %).
With the Harlingen court, the share of people with an attorney is 23.5 %: lower than nationwide (38.1 %).
Cases with the Harlingen court take longer than nationwide: a median of 855 days versus 793.
With and without an attorney
| Decisions | Relief | |
|---|---|---|
| With an attorney | 1,824 | 2.0 % |
| Without an attorney | 5,944 | 0.0 % |
Compared with other courts
- Ranked 67 of 71 courts for relief (1 = most relief).
- Ranked 7 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 (1,525 decisions) and the quietest Oct 2025 (191).
| Month | Decisions | Relief | In absentia | Vs. prior month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 293 | 0 | 177 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 191 | 0 | 31 | down |
| Nov 2025 | 603 | 3 | 462 | up |
| Dec 2025 | 555 | 0 | 454 | down |
| Jan 2026 | 432 | 2 | 302 | down |
| Feb 2026 | 198 | 0 | 112 | down |
| Mar 2026 | 645 | 6 | 524 | up |
| Apr 2026 | 593 | 2 | 427 | down |
| May 2026 | 696 | 7 | 466 | up |
| Jun 2026 | 1,201 | 6 | 899 | up |
| Jul 2026 | 1,525 | 4 | 1,084 | up |
| Aug 2026 | 836 | 6 | 441 | down |
Months with fewer than 5 decisions are dotted: with so few cases, that month's percentage says little.
Judges at this court
8 judges have this as their main court in the window. The one who decided the most was Christopher Pineda, with 2,645 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 Christopher Pineda | 2,645 | 0.4 % | 77.7 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Courtney Chua. Stevens | 1,503 | 1.3 % | 21.2 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Jesus Juan. Ybarra | 1,451 | 0.5 % | 51.3 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Delia I. Gonzalez | 1,258 | 1.4 % | 46.3 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Joseph T. Leonard | 983 | 1.6 % | 52.0 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Julian Castaneda | 934 | 0.5 % | 51.7 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Adam Rodriguez | 567 | 0.2 % | 75.8 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Andrew Galvao | 458 | 0.4 % | 68.8 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |