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

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

Immigration judges

Forrest W. Hoover, III

Immigration Judge, Philadelphia Immigration Court. Appointed October 2019 by William P. Barr.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge III74.2%
Philadelphia court58.7%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
842
Asylum granted
122
Other relief granted
95
Denied
625
Against own court
+15.5 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY23FY24FY25FY26
59%58%79%82%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 92% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Guatemala (16.6%), Brazil (15%), Honduras (13.1%), Belarus (5.1%), Russia (4%).

Official biography

Attorney General William Barr appointed Forrest W. Hoover III to begin hearing cases in October 2019. Judge Hoover earned a Bachelor of Science in 1999 from Drexel University, a Juris Doctor in 2008 from Temple University Beasley School of Law, and a Master of Criminal Law in 2012 from the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School. In 2019, he retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Marine Corps after serving since 1999. From 2008 to 2019, heserved as a judge advocate, defense counsel, prosecutor, and military judge for the U.S. Marine Corps in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Okinawa, Japan. From 1999 to 2005, he served as a logistics officer for the U.S. Marine Corps in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Okinawa, Japan;and Quantico, Virginia. Judge Hoover is a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar and the New Jersey State Bar.

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

In the record

  • Executive Office for Immigration Review

    EOIR Notice: New Immigration Judges

    EOIR's investiture notice, hosted by AILA, records that Attorney General William Barr appointed Forrest W. Hoover III among the immigration judges sworn in at an October 2019 ceremony at the Justice Department's Great Hall.

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit · 2025-07-08

    Mario de Jesus Lemus v. Attorney General of the United States

    A non-precedential Third Circuit opinion on a petition for review of a Board of Immigration Appeals decision names Forrest W. Hoover as the immigration judge in the underlying removal proceedings against Mario de Jesus Lemus.

Other judges at Philadelphia

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.