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

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

Immigration judges

George R. Najjar

Immigration Judge, San Diego Immigration Court. Appointed August 2023.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Najjar46.7%
San Diego court54.6%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
122
Asylum granted
59
Other relief granted
6
Denied
57
Against own court
-7.9 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY24FY25
21%58%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 95% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Guatemala (18%), Russia (11.5%), Mexico (10.7%), Colombia (7.4%), Venezuela (7.4%).

Official biography

George R. Najjar was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in August 2023. Judge Najjar earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1983 from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor in 1990 from California Western School of Law. From 1993 to 2023, he was in private practice in San Diego, California. During this time, from 2000 to 2023, he served as a judge pro tempore in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, and from 1997 to 2023, he served as an arbitrator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. Judge Najjar is a member of the State Bar of California.

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

In the record

  • Executive Office for Immigration Review

    EOIR Announces 38 New Immigration Judges

    EOIR's notice records that George R. Najjar was appointed an immigration judge beginning August 2023 at the San Diego Immigration Court, after three decades in private practice in San Diego.

  • Times of San Diego · 2025-07-10

    'I am dying little by little,' detained man tells immigration judge

    In reporting produced by Capital and Main, Immigration Judge George Najjar is described pressing the ICE attorney at a mid-June hearing over why a detained man with colon cancer at Otay Mesa was not receiving medical treatment.

Other judges at San Diego

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.