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

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

Immigration judges

Julian Castaneda

Immigration Judge, Harlingen Immigration Court. Appointed October 2018 by Jeff Sessions.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Castaneda44.8%
Harlingen court46.1%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
192
Asylum granted
27
Other relief granted
79
Denied
86
Against own court
-1.3 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY23FY24FY25FY26
50%40%47%54%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 63% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Mexico (33.9%), Honduras (15.1%), Cuba (13%), Nicaragua (10.9%), El Salvador (6.8%).

Official biography

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Julian Castaneda to begin hearing cases in October 2018. Judge Castaneda ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 1997 from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Juris Doctor in 2005 from the University of South Dakota School of Law. From2016 to 2018, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas in Laredo, Texas. From 2014 to 2016, he was an assistant district attorney with the Starr County District Attorney's Office in Rio Grande City, Texas. From 2013to 2014, he was an assistant county attorney in Starr County. From 2011 to 2012, he was an assistant district attorney with the Starr County District Attorney's Office in Rio Grande City,Texas. From 2008 to 2011, he was an assistant criminal district attorney in the Hildago County Office of the Criminal District Attorney in Edinburg, Texas. Judge Castaneda is a member of the State Bar of Texas.

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 Harlingen

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.