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

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

Immigration judges

Kenley Thompson

Immigration Judge, Houston South Gessner Immigration Court. Appointed March 2020 by William P. Barr.

StrictDenies more often than the national average+9.9 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Thompson72.8%
Houston - Gessner court82.0%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
268
Asylum granted
31
Other relief granted
42
Denied
195
Against own court
-9.2 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY23FY24FY25
3%95%78%83%

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

Docket

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

Most common nationalities: El Salvador (23.9%), Honduras (18.3%), Guatemala (9.7%), Venezuela (9.7%), Cuba (9%).

Official biography

Attorney General William P. Barr appointed Kenley J. Thompson as an immigration judge in March 2020. Judge Thompson ear ned a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1984 from Pittsburg State University and a Juris Doctor in 1989 from the Washburn University School of Law. From 2017 to 2020, he served as the county attorney, in Wilson County, Kansas. From2011 to 2017, he served as the director of fraud investigations and deputy general counsel for the Kansas Department of Children and Families, in Topeka. From 2010 to 2011, he served as aregional attorney for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, in Chanute. From 2003 to 2010, he was a project manager, Southeast Kansas, Young Williams Child Support Services, in Independence. From 1989 to 2019, he also served as a judge advocate for the U.S.Army and Army Reserve in the following locations: Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Leavenworth,Kansas; Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Taszar, Hungary; Eagle Base, Bosnia and Herzegovina;Baumholder, Germany; and Balad, Iraq. Judge Thompson is a member of the State Bar of Kansas and the Nebraska State 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 Houston - Gessner

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.