Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court
Address
Houston - S. Gessner Road Immigration Court: 8701 S. Gessner Road, 10th Floor, Houston, TX 77074
Court decisions over 12 months
In plain words
Fewer than 1 in 100 cases decided in this court got relief (63 of 15,861).
5 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 (1.4 % and 0.0 %).
Of the 15,861 decisions in this court, 63 ended with relief, 3,101 with the case closed, 393 with voluntary departure and 12,304 with a removal order.
| Outcome | Decisions | % |
|---|---|---|
| Relief | 63 | 0.4 % |
| Case closed | 3,101 | 19.6 % |
| Voluntary departure | 393 | 2.5 % |
| Removal order | 12,304 | 77.6 % |
| Decided in absentia | 7,716 | 48.7 % |
This court and the nation
With the Houston court, the share of cases with relief is 0.4 %: lower than nationwide (2.4 %).
With the Houston court, the share of removal orders is 77.6 %: higher than nationwide (75.6 %).
With the Houston court, the share of cases decided in absentia is 48.7 %: higher than nationwide (45.3 %).
With the Houston court, the share of people with an attorney is 26.8 %: lower than nationwide (38.1 %).
Cases with the Houston court take less time than nationwide: a median of 575 days versus 793.
With and without an attorney
| Decisions | Relief | |
|---|---|---|
| With an attorney | 4,249 | 1.4 % |
| Without an attorney | 11,612 | 0.0 % |
Compared with other courts
- Ranked 69 of 71 courts for relief (1 = most relief).
- Ranked 25 of 71 courts for cases decided in absentia (1 = most in absentia).
Decisions per month (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026)
The busiest month was May 2026 (2,060 decisions) and the quietest Nov 2025 (731).
| Month | Decisions | Relief | In absentia | Vs. prior month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 1,017 | 4 | 557 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 1,055 | 6 | 536 | up |
| Nov 2025 | 731 | 7 | 355 | down |
| Dec 2025 | 813 | 2 | 421 | up |
| Jan 2026 | 1,008 | 2 | 382 | up |
| Feb 2026 | 1,114 | 0 | 516 | up |
| Mar 2026 | 1,274 | 2 | 645 | up |
| Apr 2026 | 1,694 | 7 | 879 | up |
| May 2026 | 2,060 | 10 | 1,198 | up |
| Jun 2026 | 1,989 | 10 | 1,058 | down |
| Jul 2026 | 1,805 | 6 | 675 | down |
| Aug 2026 | 1,301 | 7 | 494 | down |
Months with fewer than 5 decisions are dotted: with so few cases, that month's percentage says little.
Judges at this court
12 judges have this as their main court in the window (1 with limited data). The one who decided the most was Andrew Stawar, with 2,377 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 Andrew Stawar | 2,377 | 0.8 % | 39.6 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Delana M. Jones | 2,062 | 0.2 % | 43.7 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Jacquelyn J. Joyce | 1,999 | 0.1 % | 40.1 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Christopher M. Schumann | 1,965 | 0.3 % | 42.2 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Geoffrey Hoffman | 1,914 | 1.2 % | 43.8 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Kevin Brown | 1,615 | 0.5 % | 53.8 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Jonathan Charles. Andresen | 1,536 | 0.3 % | 60.8 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Miguel A. Cordero Gonzalez | 1,462 | 0.6 % | 40.0 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge David M. Paxton | 1,302 | 0.8 % | 65.2 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Lian Yeh | 1,055 | 0.0 % | 3.2 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Arkesia Jenkins | 991 | 0.3 % | 9.6 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Clarease Rankin Yates | 1 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |