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

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

Immigration judges

Jankhana Desai

Immigration Judge, Los Angeles - West Los Angeles Immigration Court. Appointed December 2017 by Jeff Sessions.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Desai53.7%
Los Angeles - WLA court61.2%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
365
Asylum granted
106
Other relief granted
63
Denied
196
Against own court
-7.5 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
16%19%6%57%84%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 87% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: China (14.8%), Guatemala (13.7%), Mexico (12.1%), Honduras (9%), El Salvador (8.8%).

Official biography

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Jankhana Desai to begin hearing cases in December 2017. Judge Desai ear ned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1993 from the Universityof California, Irvine and a Master of Arts degree in 1995 from the California State University,Fullerton. Under the Berkeley-Harvard Law Degree Program, Judge Desai ear ned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2001, andcompleted her third year at Harvard Law School. From 2015 to 2017, she served as an administrative law judge for the New York State Department of Health, in New York, N.Y.From 2011 to 2013, she served as an administrative law judge for the State of California, Officeof Administrative Hearings, in Los Angeles. From 2011 to 2012, Judge Desai served as an adjunct professor of law at the Western State College of Law, in Fullerton, Calif., and from 2010to 2011, as an administrative law judge pro tem for the State of California, Office of Administrative Hearings, in Los Angeles. From 2005 to 2009, she served as a deputy district attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, in Los Angeles. Judge Desai is am ember of the California, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York State Bars.

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 Angeles - WLA

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.