Newark immigration court
Address
Newark Immigration Court: 970 Broad Street, Room 1200, Newark, NJ 07102
Court decisions over 12 months
In plain words
Out of every 100 cases decided in this court, 2 got relief. Very few cases end with relief.
6 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 (4.3 % and 0.0 %).
Of the 21,246 decisions in this court, 322 ended with relief, 1,476 with the case closed, 1,815 with voluntary departure and 17,633 with a removal order.
| Outcome | Decisions | % |
|---|---|---|
| Relief | 322 | 1.5 % |
| Case closed | 1,476 | 7.0 % |
| Voluntary departure | 1,815 | 8.5 % |
| Removal order | 17,633 | 83.0 % |
| Decided in absentia | 12,016 | 56.6 % |
This court and the nation
With the Newark court, the share of cases with relief is 1.5 %: lower than nationwide (2.4 %).
With the Newark court, the share of removal orders is 83.0 %: higher than nationwide (75.6 %).
With the Newark court, the share of cases decided in absentia is 56.6 %: higher than nationwide (45.3 %).
With the Newark court, the share of people with an attorney is 34.9 %: lower than nationwide (38.1 %).
Cases with the Newark court take longer than nationwide: a median of 961 days versus 793.
With and without an attorney
| Decisions | Relief | |
|---|---|---|
| With an attorney | 7,412 | 4.3 % |
| Without an attorney | 13,834 | 0.0 % |
Compared with other courts
- Ranked 48 of 71 courts for relief (1 = most relief).
- Ranked 17 of 71 courts for cases decided in absentia (1 = most in absentia).
Decisions per month (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026)
The busiest month was Aug 2026 (4,366 decisions) and the quietest Sep 2025 (314).
| Month | Decisions | Relief | In absentia | Vs. prior month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 314 | 5 | 145 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 439 | 3 | 234 | up |
| Nov 2025 | 428 | 2 | 206 | down |
| Dec 2025 | 637 | 2 | 243 | up |
| Jan 2026 | 1,044 | 0 | 273 | up |
| Feb 2026 | 1,242 | 8 | 391 | up |
| Mar 2026 | 1,693 | 105 | 621 | up |
| Apr 2026 | 1,786 | 5 | 973 | up |
| May 2026 | 1,872 | 59 | 808 | up |
| Jun 2026 | 3,142 | 87 | 1,946 | up |
| Jul 2026 | 4,283 | 6 | 3,058 | up |
| Aug 2026 | 4,366 | 40 | 3,118 | up |
Months with fewer than 5 decisions are dotted: with so few cases, that month's percentage says little.
Judges at this court
15 judges have this as their main court in the window (3 with limited data). The one who decided the most was Dennis Ryan, with 3,825 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 Dennis Ryan | 3,825 | 1.1 % | 53.6 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Nicole Lane | 2,900 | 0.0 % | 47.4 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Michael M. Neal | 2,726 | 2.2 % | 51.7 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Karen Nazaire | 2,616 | 0.2 % | 50.9 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Ramin Rastegar | 2,612 | 2.1 % | 53.4 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Shana W. Chen | 2,423 | 1.1 % | 42.3 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Carol Moore | 2,015 | 1.1 % | 62.8 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Leila Mcneill. Mullican | 1,709 | 2.7 % | 50.0 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Leo A. Finston | 1,020 | 4.9 % | 39.0 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Kerri Lechtrecker | 717 | 0.0 % | 63.9 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Alberto J. Riefkohl | 510 | 0.8 % | 0.0 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Anthony Picione | 419 | 0.0 % | 50.4 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge David Cheng | 45 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |
| Judge Laura N. Pierro | 24 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |
| Judge Donna Bates | 13 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |