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

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

Immigration judges

Kelly B. Lake

Immigration Judge, Memphis Immigration Court. Appointed March 2019 by Matthew Whitaker.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Lake67.4%
Memphis court70.1%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
304
Asylum granted
59
Other relief granted
40
Denied
205
Against own court
-2.7 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
85%43%61%64%69%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 92% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Honduras (21.7%), Guatemala (17.8%), Nicaragua (10.9%), Venezuela (10.9%), El Salvador (7.9%).

Official biography

Then-Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker appointed Kelly B. Lake to begin hearingcases in March 2019. Judge Lake ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 1995 from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Juris Doctor in 1998 from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. From 1999 to 2007, she served as a deputy district attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. From 2007 to 2008 she was an associate legal advisor, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Washington D.C. Judge Lake served in various capacities for the Department of Justice,including: from 2009 to 2010, as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Illinois;from 2010 to 2014 as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of the Virgin Islands; from 2014 to2016, as a trial attorney in the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, Criminal Division, in Washington D.C.; from 2016 to 2017, as the resident legal advisor, Overseas Prosecutorial Development and Training Section (OPDAT), Criminal Division, in Lagos, Nigeria; and from2017 to 2018, as the resident legal advisor, OPDAT, Criminal Division, in Islamabad, Pakistan. Judge Lake is a member of the State Bar of California and District of Columbia Bar.

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 Memphis

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.