Santa Ana immigration court
Address
Santa Ana Immigration Court: 1241 East Dyer Road, Suite 200, Santa Ana, CA 92705
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.
3 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 (3.9 % and 0.1 %).
Of the 21,994 decisions in this court, 632 ended with relief, 1,762 with the case closed, 780 with voluntary departure and 18,820 with a removal order.
| Outcome | Decisions | % |
|---|---|---|
| Relief | 632 | 2.9 % |
| Case closed | 1,762 | 8.0 % |
| Voluntary departure | 780 | 3.6 % |
| Removal order | 18,820 | 85.6 % |
| Decided in absentia | 7,322 | 33.3 % |
This court and the nation
With the Santa Ana court, the share of cases with relief is 2.9 %: similar than nationwide (2.4 %).
With the Santa Ana court, the share of removal orders is 85.6 %: higher than nationwide (75.6 %).
With the Santa Ana court, the share of cases decided in absentia is 33.3 %: lower than nationwide (45.3 %).
With the Santa Ana court, the share of people with an attorney is 73.2 %: higher than nationwide (38.1 %).
Cases with the Santa Ana court take about the same as nationwide: a median of 755 days versus 793.
With and without an attorney
| Decisions | Relief | |
|---|---|---|
| With an attorney | 16,107 | 3.9 % |
| Without an attorney | 5,887 | 0.1 % |
Compared with other courts
- Ranked 29 of 71 courts for relief (1 = most relief).
- Ranked 41 of 71 courts for cases decided in absentia (1 = most in absentia).
Decisions per month (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026)
The busiest month was Mar 2026 (2,592 decisions) and the quietest Aug 2026 (1,345).
| Month | Decisions | Relief | In absentia | Vs. prior month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 2,000 | 90 | 908 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 2,226 | 89 | 974 | up |
| Nov 2025 | 1,488 | 59 | 624 | down |
| Dec 2025 | 1,653 | 53 | 637 | up |
| Jan 2026 | 2,111 | 38 | 669 | up |
| Feb 2026 | 2,118 | 31 | 573 | up |
| Mar 2026 | 2,592 | 62 | 605 | up |
| Apr 2026 | 1,867 | 36 | 568 | down |
| May 2026 | 1,554 | 47 | 481 | down |
| Jun 2026 | 1,588 | 36 | 583 | up |
| Jul 2026 | 1,452 | 34 | 356 | down |
| Aug 2026 | 1,345 | 57 | 344 | down |
Months with fewer than 5 decisions are dotted: with so few cases, that month's percentage says little.
Judges at this court
21 judges have this as their main court in the window (1 with limited data). The one who decided the most was Andrew Fishkin, with 1,596 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 Fishkin | 1,596 | 5.7 % | 33.4 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Aggie Norregard | 1,505 | 2.2 % | 7.0 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Joyce Noche | 1,444 | 4.4 % | 35.7 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Nathaniel B. Walker | 1,297 | 1.9 % | 49.1 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Kristin Piepmeier | 1,281 | 0.7 % | 38.6 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Lily C Hsu | 1,257 | 4.1 % | 39.5 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Anita McFadden | 1,199 | 2.3 % | 52.5 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Wilbur Lee | 1,169 | 3.0 % | 23.1 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Jonathan Huang | 1,168 | 0.9 % | 27.1 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Heather Libeu | 1,120 | 4.1 % | 23.5 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Howard C. Hom | 1,118 | 3.4 % | 35.2 % | Similar: Relief similar to the other judges in this court |
| Judge Terese Tadros-Ibarra | 1,099 | 4.7 % | 20.5 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Gregory L. Simmons | 1,094 | 1.7 % | 36.3 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Leon J. Francis | 1,061 | 3.9 % | 31.7 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Iman Ghasri | 1,041 | 4.8 % | 20.4 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Jerome M., JR. Rothschild | 696 | 1.4 % | 26.4 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Nicole I. Wells | 223 | 6.3 % | 25.1 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Paul E. Stephan | 218 | 0.0 % | 61.0 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Terexa Fan | 199 | 0.5 % | 22.6 % | Less relief: Less relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Jason R. Waterloo | 99 | 17.2 % | 18.2 % | More relief: More relief than the other judges in this court |
| Judge Christopher D. McNary | 4 | limited data | limited data | Limited data: Not enough data to compare |