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

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

Immigration judges

Frank T. Pimentel

Immigration Judge, Port Isabel Detention Center. Appointed July 2017 by Jeff Sessions.

StrictDenies more often than the national average+18.7 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Pimentel81.6%
Los Fresnos court84.3%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
228
Asylum granted
22
Other relief granted
20
Denied
186
Against own court
-2.7 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23
73%91%80%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 37% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Nicaragua (38.2%), Honduras (11%), El Salvador (7.5%), Colombia (5.3%), Mexico (5.3%).

Official biography

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Frank T. Pimentel to begin hearing cases in July 2017. Judge Pimentel ear ned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987 and a Juris Doctor in 1994 from the University of Notre Dame. From 2012 to 2017, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York in Buffalo, N.Y. From 2009 to 2012, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas, in Laredo, Texas. From 2004 to 2009, he was a senior associate attorney at Mintz Levin Cohn Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. in Washington, D.C. From 1999 to 2004, he was an associate attorney at Reed Smith LLP, in Falls Church, Va. From 1995 to 1999, he served as an assistant public defender for the Monroe County Public Defender's Office in Rochester, N.Y. From 1994 to 1995, he clerked for the Honorable David G. Larimer, U.S. District Court, Western District of New York. From 1987 to 1990, he served as a field artillery officer in the U.S. Army in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Turkey. Judge Pimentel is a member of the New York 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 Los Fresnos

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.