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

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

Immigration judges

Margaret D. Burkhart

Immigration Judge, San Antonio Immigration Court. Appointed September 1994.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Burkhart2.8%
San Antonio court41.2%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
282
Asylum granted
170
Other relief granted
104
Denied
8
Against own court
-38.4 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23FY25FY26
14%2%2%1%4%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 77% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Honduras (16%), Venezuela (12.8%), Nepal (12.1%), Mexico (9.2%), El Salvador (7.4%).

Official biography

Judge Burkhart was appointed as an Immigration Judge in September 1994. She received an undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1980, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas in 1983. Judge Burkhart worked as a staff attorney for Texas Rural Legal Aid, Inc., in Edinburg, Texas, from 1987 to 1994. She also worked as executive director from 1985 to 1987 for the Central American Refugee Center in Houston. From 1984 to 1985, she was employed as a staff attorney for the Centro Para Inmigrantes de Texas (now Texas Center for Immigrant Legal Assistance), also in Houston. Judge Burkhart worked as a para legal and then staff attorney for Proyecto Livertad in Harlingen from 1983 to 1984. She is a member of the Texas 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 San Antonio

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.