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

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

Immigration judges

Davene Walker

Immigration Judge, Hyattsville Immigration Court. Appointed November 2023.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Walker50.0%
Hyattsville court57.6%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
318
Asylum granted
150
Other relief granted
9
Denied
159
Against own court
-7.6 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY24FY25
24%61%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 91% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Cameroon (17.3%), Honduras (11.3%), El Salvador (10.1%), Ethiopia (9.1%), Venezuela (7.5%).

Official biography

Davené D. Walker was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in November 2023. Judge Walker ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 2002 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Juris Doctor in 2005 from the University of Virginia School of Law. From 2015 to 2023, she served as a trial attorney and then a senior attorney with the Environment and Natural Resources Division, Department of Justice. From 2012 to 2015, she served as an assistant city attorney for the City of Atlanta. From 2008 to 2012, she was a litigator at Smith Gambrell & Russell in Atlanta. From 2005 to 2008, she was an associate at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Atlanta. In 2008, she also served as a temporary judicial law clerk for the Honorable Clarence Cooper, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Judge Walker is a member of the State Bar of Georgia.

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 Hyattsville

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.