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

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

Immigration judges

Donald Pashayan

Immigration Judge, Cleveland Immigration Court. Appointed December 2020 by William P. Barr.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Pashayan84.5%
Cleveland court79.2%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
647
Asylum granted
71
Other relief granted
29
Denied
547
Against own court
+5.3 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
70%69%67%91%95%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 90% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Guatemala (11.6%), Honduras (9.7%), Venezuela (8.5%), Brazil (8%), Mexico (7.7%).

Official biography

Attorney General William P. Barr appointed Donald Pashayan as an Immigration Judge in December 2020. Judge Pashayan ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 1994 from Boston College and a Juris Doctor in 1999 from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. From 2012 to 2020, heserved as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force of the District of Arizona and also served as a district opioid co-coordinator. From 2003 to 2012, heserved as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Ohio and the Middle District of Florida. In 2002, he worked as a litigation associate at Frantz Ward LLC, in Cleveland. From1999 to 2002, he served on active duty as a judge advocate in the U.S. Navy at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, and Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. In 2019, he retired from the Naval Reserves. From 1994 to 1999, he served as a police officer with the Avon Lake Police Department, in Ohio. Judge Pashayan is a member of the Arizona State Bar and Ohio State 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 Cleveland

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.