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

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

Immigration judges

Francisco R. Prieto

Immigration Judge, New York - Varick. Appointed March 2019 by Matthew Whitaker.

AverageClose to the national average+4.6 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Prieto67.5%
New York - DET court60.9%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
861
Asylum granted
239
Other relief granted
41
Denied
581
Against own court
+6.6 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
63%49%50%52%94%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 76% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Official biography

Then-Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker appointed Francisco R. Prieto to begin hearing cases in March 2019. Judge Prieto earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1992 from Hofstra University and a Juris Doctor in 2000 from St. John's University School of Law. From2010 to 2019, he served as an assistant chief counsel with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in New York, New York. From2009 to 2010, he served as an assistant chief counsel ICE, in Miami, Florida. From 2007 to 2009,he served as an assistant attorney general at the New Mexico Attorney General's Office, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 2006 to 2007, he served as an assistant district attorney with the First Judicial District Attorney's Office, in Santa Fe. From 2004 to 2006, he was an examiner with AIG in New York, New York, and Jersey City, New Jersey. Judge Prieto is a member of the Florida Bar, State Bar of New Mexico and New York 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: 31 New Immigration Judges

    EOIR's notice records that then-Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker appointed Francisco R. Prieto to begin hearing cases in March 2019 at the Varick Street Immigration Court, after nine years as an assistant chief counsel with ICE.

  • The City Reporter · 2019-07-12

    On the Brink of Being Homeless in a 'Sanctuary City'

    The City Reporter describes a Varick Street hearing conducted by video link from the Essex County jail in which Immigration Judge Francisco R. Prieto decided the case of a Honduran man whose brothers had been killed by a gang.

  • Documented · 2020-10-16

    Disorder in the Immigration Courts

    Documented's court-watch account recalls New York Immigration Judge Francisco Prieto ordering a woman deported in absentia moments before she walked into the courtroom, offered as an example of how administrative errors carry severe consequences.

Other judges at New York - DET

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.