New York · est. 2013Thursday, September 24, 2026
Inside Immigration

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

Immigration judges

Lorely Ramirez Fernandez

Immigration Judge, El Paso Immigration Court. Appointed October 2018 by Jeff Sessions.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Fernandez40.9%
El Paso court64.3%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
281
Asylum granted
118
Other relief granted
48
Denied
115
Against own court
-23.4 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY23FY24FY25
12%20%79%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 69% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Venezuela (30.2%), Cuba (14.6%), Mexico (14.2%), Nicaragua (5.7%), Colombia (5.3%).

Official biography

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Lorely Ramirez Fernandez to begin hearing cases in October 2018. Judge Fernandez earned a Bachelor in Business Administration in 2001 from Our Lady of the Lake University and a Juris Doctor in 2004 from the University of Houston Law Center. From 2007 to 2016, she was an assistant chief counsel, and from 2016 to 2018 a senior attorney, with the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration Customs Enforcement,Department of Homeland Security, in El Paso, Texas. In 2007, she was a staff attorney with Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso. From 2005 to 2007, she was an associate with Spector & Spector in El Paso. Judge Fernandez is a member of the Texas State Bar.

As published by the Executive Office for Immigration Review at appointment, via TRAC.

In the record

  • Border Report · 2024-12-06

    Report: Disparate swings in asylum outcomes by US immigration judges

    Reporting on TRAC asylum data, Border Report notes El Paso immigration judges' denial rates range from 14.7% to 85.5% and says Judge Lorely Ramirez Fernandez heard 129 cases since 2019, granting asylum in 70.5% and other relief in 14.7%.

  • Executive Office for Immigration Review · 2018-09-28

    Executive Office for Immigration Review Swears in 46 Immigration Judges

    EOIR announced that Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Lorely Ramirez Fernandez to the Otero Immigration Court, beginning cases in October 2018. She had served as assistant chief counsel from 2007 and senior attorney from 2016 with ICE's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

Other judges at El Paso

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.