Craig A. Defoe
Immigration Judge, Chicago Immigration Court. Appointed March 2019 by Matthew Whitaker.
Asylum record, FY 2021-2026
TRAC source →- Decisions on the merits
- 1,169
- Asylum granted
- 363
- Other relief granted
- 57
- Denied
- 749
- Against own court
- +15.1 pts
| FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40% | 49% | 61% | 59% | 71% | 88% |
Docket
Respondents represented by counsel: 83% (nationally, 81% are represented).
Most common nationalities: Venezuela (10.9%), Nigeria (10.1%), Mexico (9.4%), Guatemala (7.2%), India (6.7%).
Official biography
Then-Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker appointed Craig A. Defoe to begin hearingcases in March 2019. Judge Defoe ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 2004 from Washington University in Saint Louis and a Juris Doctor in 2007 from Indiana University, McKinney Schoolof Law. From 2016 to 2019, he served as an attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel, Customsand Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, in Chicago. From 2009 to 2016, heserved as a trial attorney for the Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL), Civil Division,Department of Justice. He joined OIL through the Attorney General's Honors Program. From2007 to 2009, he served as a staff attorney in the Staff Attorney's Office, U.S. Court of Appealsfor the Eleventh Circuit, in Atlanta. Judge Defoe is a member of the Indiana State Bar.
In the record
No published reporting or appellate decisions naming this judge have been collected yet.
Other judges at Chicago
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.