Denise Hunter
Immigration Judge, Sacramento Immigration Court. Appointed October 2022.
Asylum record, FY 2021-2026
TRAC source →- Decisions on the merits
- 548
- Asylum granted
- 427
- Other relief granted
- 23
- Denied
- 98
- Against own court
- -9.1 pts
| FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15% | 9% | 24% | 30% |
Docket
Respondents represented by counsel: 80% (nationally, 81% are represented).
Most common nationalities: Russia (40.3%), India (19.9%), Afghanistan (9.9%), Mexico (7.5%), Guatemala (4.7%).
Official biography
Denise M. Hunter was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in October 2022. Judge Hunter earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2006 from Wesley – Delaware State University (formerly Wesley College) and a Juris Doctor in 2011 from The George Washington University Law School. From 2021 to 2022, she was the LGBTQ+ Program Legal Director at California Rural Legal Assistance. Inc., in Modesto, California, and served on the Board of Asylum Works in Washington, D.C. From 2017 to 2021, she was senior staff attorney – immigration at Whitman-Walker Health (WWH) in Washington, D.C. From 2015 to 2017, she was staff attorney – immigration at WWH. From 2014 to 2015, she was an immigration staff attorney at Ayuda in Washington, D.C. From 2012 to 2014 she was staff attorney at Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Arlington, Hogar Immigrant Services, in Falls Church, Virginia. Judge Hunter is a member of the District of Columbia Bar.
In the record
EOIR Announces 32 New Immigration Judges
EOIR's notice records that Denise M. Hunter was appointed an immigration judge beginning October 2022 at the Sacramento Immigration Court, after serving as LGBTQ+ programme legal director at California Rural Legal Assistance.
Immigrant rights advocates confront ICE in Sacramento
The Sacramento Bee describes a tense hearing in Sacramento's federal building at which Immigration Judge Denise Hunter declined to dismiss the case of a young Russian asylum seeker, refusing the government's request to end proceedings.
Masked men, sobbing immigrants: The terrible reality of ICE
The Las Vegas Sun carries an account of a Sacramento immigration courtroom in which Immigration Judge Denise Hunter delivered a ruling in the case of a Russian asylum seeker as ICE officers waited outside the courtroom.
San Francisco Immigration Court Down to Four Judges After New Departures
KQED reports that two immigration judges were fired, including Denise Hunter, as part of what advocates describe as an effort to remake the court system by removing judges more likely to grant asylum.
Other judges at Sacramento
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.