New York · est. 2013Thursday, September 24, 2026
Inside Immigration

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

Immigration judges

D'Anna H. Freeman

Immigration Judge, Chicago Immigration Court. Appointed March 2016 by Loretta E. Lynch.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Freeman96.9%
Chicago court49.0%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
160
Asylum granted
3
Other relief granted
2
Denied
155
Against own court
+47.9 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY26
97%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 95% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: India (13.8%), Mexico (10.6%), Colombia (9.4%), Nicaragua (9.4%).

Official biography

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Judge D'Anna H. Freeman to begin hearing cases in March 2016. Judge Freeman earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1988 from Baylor University, a Master of Public Health in 1995 from the University of Texas Health Science Center, and Juris Doctor in 2004 from the University of Houston Law Center. From 2007 to February 2016, Judge Freeman served in various capacities for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including: as assistant chief counsel from 2013 to 2016, in Dallas; as senior attorney from 2010 through 2013, in Livingston, Texas; and as assistant chief counsel from 2007 through 2010, in Eloy, Ariz. From 2006 through 2007, she was a partner at Forrest & Harrison LLC, in Houston. From 2005 through 2006, she served as an attorney at Dunbar, Harden & Benson LLP, in Houston. From 2004 through 2005, she operated the Law Office of D'Anna Harrison, in Houston. Judge Freeman is a member of the State Bar of Texas.

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

In the record

  • Executive Office for Immigration Review · 2016-03-14

    EOIR Swears in Eight Immigration Judges

    EOIR's investiture notice records that Attorney General Loretta Lynch appointed D'Anna H. Freeman to begin hearing cases in March 2016, initially assigned to the Pearsall Immigration Court in Texas, and summarises her earlier legal career before the immigration bench.

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · 2021-09-21

    Darlyn Mass-Montenegro v. Attorney General United States

    A Third Circuit petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision identifies D'Anna H. Freeman as the immigration judge whose ruling was appealed in the removal case of Darlyn Josue Mass-Montenegro.

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · 2021-03-17

    Miguel Angel Melo Gutierrez v. Attorney General United States

    This non-precedential Third Circuit opinion reviewing a Board of Immigration Appeals order names D'Anna H. Freeman as the immigration judge who heard the underlying removal proceedings against petitioner Miguel Angel Melo Gutierrez.

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.