Kaarina Salovaara
Immigration Judge, Chicago Immigration Court. Appointed August 2018 by Jeff Sessions.
Asylum record, FY 2021-2026
TRAC source →- Decisions on the merits
- 450
- Asylum granted
- 206
- Other relief granted
- 30
- Denied
- 214
- Against own court
- -1.4 pts
| FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58% | 44% | 21% | 50% | 47% |
Docket
Respondents represented by counsel: 97% (nationally, 81% are represented).
Most common nationalities: Honduras (19.3%), Mexico (14.2%), El Salvador (12.2%), Guatemala (10.7%), Nigeria (6.9%).
Official biography
Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Kaarina Salovaara to begin hearing cases in August 2018. Judge Salovaara ear ned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976 from Smith College and a Juris Doctor in 1980from the University of Virginia Law School. From 1991 to 2018, she was an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office, Criminal Division, Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. From 1981 to 1991, she was an associate and later a partner with Jenner &Block, also in Chicago. From 1980 to 1981, she was a clerk for Judge Barbara B. Crabb in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. She is a member of the Illinois State Bar.
In the record
No published reporting or appellate decisions naming this judge have been collected yet.
Other judges at Chicago
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.