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

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

Immigration judges

Deitrich H. Sims

Immigration Judge, Dallas Immigration Court. Appointed March 1997.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Sims84.3%
Dallas court70.1%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
765
Asylum granted
18
Other relief granted
102
Denied
645
Against own court
+14.2 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
95%70%85%82%83%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 65% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Honduras (19.1%), Mexico (17.5%), El Salvador (17.1%), Venezuela (16.1%), Guatemala (8.6%).

Official biography

Judge Sims was appointed as an Immigration Judge in March 1997. Prior to his May 1999 transfer to the Immigration Court in Dallas, Judge Sims served as an Immigration Judge in the Immigration Court in Miami, Florida. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1979 from Claremont McKenna College, and a Juris Doctorate from Lewis and Clark Law School in 1982. From 1988 to 1997, Judge Sims served as an assistant district counsel with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service in San Antonio, Texas. During this time, he also served as a special assistant U.S. Attorney with the Western District of Texas from 1994 to 1997. Judge Sims worked as a special agent with the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, in Los Angeles, California, from 1984 to 1988. He is a member of both the Texas and Washington State Bars.

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 Dallas

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.