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

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

Immigration judges

David Cheng

Immigration Judge, Newark Immigration Court. Appointed July 2017 by Jeff Sessions.

AverageClose to the national average-4.6 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Cheng58.3%
Newark court70.3%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
374
Asylum granted
92
Other relief granted
64
Denied
218
Against own court
-12.0 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25
76%84%58%16%56%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 73% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Honduras (11%), Colombia (10.7%), El Salvador (10.2%), Guatemala (10.2%), Ecuador (9.9%).

Official biography

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed David Cheng to begin hearing cases in July 2017. Judge Cheng earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992 from the State University of New York at Albany and a Juris Doctor in 1997 from St. John's University School of Law. From 2002 to 2017, he served as a senior attorney for the Office of Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Newark, N.J. From 2000 to 2002, he served as an administrative law judge for the New York City Department of Finance. From 1997 to 2000, he was a general partner at Cheng and Cheng P.C., in New York, N.Y. Judge Cheng is a member of the New York State Bar.

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

In the record

  • Executive Office for Immigration Review · 2017-06-16

    EOIR Swears in 11 Immigration Judges

    EOIR announced that Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed David Cheng among eleven new immigration judges invested at a June 2017 ceremony at agency headquarters, bringing the immigration judge corps to 326.

  • WBUR · 2025-07-23

    Fired immigration judges say court system is under attack

    WBUR's report on terminated Massachusetts immigration judges notes that David Cheng is the only assistant chief immigration judge listed on the Justice Department website for the court whose supervisor a fired judge declined to name.

Other judges at Newark

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.