Jeremiah Johnson
Immigration Judge, San Francisco Immigration Court. Appointed October 2017 by Jeff Sessions.
Asylum record, FY 2021-2026
TRAC source →- Decisions on the merits
- 761
- Asylum granted
- 680
- Other relief granted
- 20
- Denied
- 61
- Against own court
- -20.4 pts
| FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6% | 7% | 4% | 13% | 25% |
Docket
Respondents represented by counsel: 97% (nationally, 81% are represented).
Most common nationalities: India (34.3%), Guatemala (16%), El Salvador (12.5%), Mexico (10.2%), Nepal (4.7%).
Official biography
Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Jeremiah Johnson to begin hearing cases in October 2017. Judge Johnson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1996 from Randolph Macon College and a Juris Doctor in 2003 from the University of San Francisco School of Law. From2016 to 2017, he served as an asylum officer for the Department of Homeland Security, U.S.Citizenship and Immigration Services, in San Francisco. From 2011 to 2016, he was a partner at Johnson & McDermed LLP, in San Francisco. From 2005 to 2011, he was a partner at Reeves &Associates, in San Francisco. From 2004 to 2005, he was an attorney at the Law Offices of Shawn Sedaghat, in Los Angeles. From 2003 to 2004, he was a research attorney at Van Der Hout, Brigagliano, & Nightingale LLP, in San Francisco. Judge Johnson is a member of the California State Bar.
In the record
EXCLUSIVE: Fired SF immigration judge retraces last asylum case to Guatemala after DOJ dismissals
ABC7 News follows Johnson, a fired San Francisco immigration judge, as he travels through Tapachula and Guatemala to retrace the last asylum case he heard. The station reports more than 100 immigration judges have been fired since 2025 and that EOIR would not say why.
Approach The Bench: Judge Johnson On Immigration Court
A Law360 interview with Johnson, who was fired by email in November as part of the wave of judicial layoffs that ended with the closure of San Francisco's immigration court. The article is behind a subscription wall beyond its opening lines.
Other judges at San Francisco
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.