Judith F. Bonilla
Immigration Judge, El Paso Immigration Court. Appointed March 2020 by William P. Barr.
Asylum record, FY 2021-2026
TRAC source →- Decisions on the merits
- 319
- Asylum granted
- 114
- Other relief granted
- 90
- Denied
- 115
- Against own court
- -28.2 pts
| FY22 | FY23 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19% | 10% | 72% | 71% |
Docket
Respondents represented by counsel: 62% (nationally, 81% are represented).
Most common nationalities: Venezuela (30.4%), Mexico (10.3%), Nicaragua (10.3%), Turkiye (9.7%), Cuba (8.5%).
Official biography
Attorney General William P. Barr appointed Judith F. Bonilla as an immigration judge in March 2020. Judge Bonilla earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2000 from St. Mary's University and a Juris Doctor in 2004 from the University of Chicago Law School. From 2011 to 2020, she served asan assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor,Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in El Paso,Texas. From 2004 to 2009, she was an associate attorney with Holland & Knight LLP, in the District of Columbia. Judge Bonilla is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and Maryland State Bar.
In the record
Asylum-seekers plead with judge not to send them back to Mexico
Border Report watches Nicaraguan asylum seekers returned under Remain in Mexico plead their cases before Bonilla in El Paso. She asked each whether they needed time to find counsel, phoned a law firm from the bench, and referred them to an asylum officer after they said they feared return.
Fast-tracked immigration hearings leave migrant children facing deportation
El Paso Matters observes Bonilla's June 2026 docket of unaccompanied minors, several of whom requested voluntary departure after their hearings were moved up the calendar. She granted a 17-year-old Guatemalan girl's request and told her she had 90 days to leave.
Other judges at El Paso
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.