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

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

Immigration judges

Lolita M. Lukose

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

LenientGrants far more often than the national average-37.5 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Lukose25.4%
Arlington court46.3%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
327
Asylum granted
193
Other relief granted
51
Denied
83
Against own court
-20.9 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23FY24
54%25%13%28%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 90% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: El Salvador (25.1%), Honduras (19%), Guatemala (10.1%), Venezuela (6.1%), Ethiopia (4.6%).

Official biography

Then-Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker appointed Lolita M. Lukose to begin hearing cases in March of 2019. Judge Lukose ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 1998 from New York University and a Juris Doctor in 2002 from the American University, Washington College of Law. From 2002 to 2005, she served as an assistant district attorney in the District Attorney's Office in Bronx, New York. From 2005 to 2007, she served as an assistant attorney general in the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. From 2007 to 2010, she served as an attorney advisor in the National Security Law Section at the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Department of Homeland Security(DHS), and as an assistant chief counsel with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHSin the Arlington Chief Counsel's Office in Arlington, Virginia. From 2010 to 2019, sheserved as a trial attorney with the Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division at the Department of Justice. Judge Lukose is a member of the District of Columbia and New York 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 Arlington

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.