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

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

Immigration judges

Denise C. Hochul

Immigration Judge, Buffalo Immigration Court. Appointed January 2016 by Loretta E. Lynch.

LenientGrants far more often than the national average-30.5 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Hochul32.4%
Buffalo court57.3%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
426
Asylum granted
237
Other relief granted
51
Denied
138
Against own court
-24.9 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25
49%29%27%31%24%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 93% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Guatemala (10.8%), Ecuador (7.3%), Brazil (6.6%), Cuba (6.6%), Bangladesh (6.1%).

Official biography

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Judge Hochul to begin hearing cases in January 2016. Judge Hochul received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1980 from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Juris Doctor in 1985 from the Ohio Northern University, Claude W. Pettit College of Law. From 1996 through 2015, Judge Hochul served in the Office of the Chief Counsel, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security, in Buffalo, in various capacities, including: senior attorney; assistant chief counsel; designated human rights law special interest attorney; designated national security special interest attorney; member of the Trial Advocacy Training Team; and as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York. From 1987 through 1996, she served as an assistant district attorney in the Erie County District Attorney's Office in Buffalo. Judge Hochul is a member of the New York Bar.

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 Buffalo

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.