New York · est. 2013Friday, September 4, 2026
Inside Immigration

Plain-language guides to US immigration, asylum and USCIS procedure.

Immigration judges

Christopher D. McNary

Immigration Judge, Santa Ana Immigration Court. Appointed August 2023.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge McNary76.5%
Santa Ana court76.5%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
426
Asylum granted
83
Other relief granted
17
Denied
326
Against own court
0.0 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY24FY25
64%86%

Read from TRAC's chart to the nearest point. Years with fewer than 25 decisions are not shown.

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 80% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Mexico (16.4%), China (14.1%), Colombia (13.1%), Guatemala (11%), Nicaragua (9.4%).

Official biography

Christopher D. McNary was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in August 2023. Judge McNary ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 2008 from the University of San Francisco and a Juris Doctor in 2011 from the University of San Francisco School of Law. From 2018 to 2023, he served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in Los Angeles. From 2017 to 2018, he served as a senior asylum officer, and from 2013 to 2017, he served as an asylum officer, with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS, in San Francisco. From 2011 to 2013, he served as a staff attorney with East Bay Sanctuary Covenant in Berkeley, California. Judge McNary is a member of the State Bar of California.

As published by the Executive Office for Immigration Review at appointment, via TRAC.

In the record

No published reporting or appellate decisions naming this judge have been collected yet.

Other judges at Santa Ana

Court page →

About these figures. Denial rates describe outcomes in the cases a judge happened to hear, which differ by detention, nationality and representation. They are not a measure of fairness or competence. Method and sources are on the judges index.