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

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

Immigration judges

James M. McCarthy

Immigration Judge, New York/Federal Plaza Immigration Court. Appointed July 2017 by Jeff Sessions.

AverageClose to the national average-5.8 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge McCarthy57.1%
New York court47.7%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
904
Asylum granted
361
Other relief granted
27
Denied
516
Against own court
+9.4 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
23%29%54%69%89%

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: Honduras (40%), El Salvador (20%), Guatemala (20%), Ecuador (10%), Georgia (10%).

Official biography

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed James M. McCarthy to begin hearing cases in July 2017. Judge McCarthy ear ned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1983 from St. John's University and a Juris Doctor in 1995 from Brooklyn Law School. From 2014 to 2017, he served as a senior attorney for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in New York, N.Y. From 2011 to 2014, he served as a deputy chief counsel for the Office of Chief Counsel, ICE, DHS, also in New York. From 2009 to 2011, he served as a senior attorney for ICE, DHS, in Eloy, Ariz. From 2004 to 2009, he served as an assistant chief counsel for ICE, DHS, in Eloy and Florence, Ariz. From 2000 to 2004, he served as an examining attorney for the Mayoral Commission to Combat Police Corruption, New York City Department of Investigations. From 1995 to 2000, he served as an assistant district attorney, and later as a senior assistant district attorney, at the Kings County District Attorney's Office, in Brooklyn, N.Y. Judge McCarthy 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 New York

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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.