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

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

Immigration judges

Margaret M. Kolbe

Immigration Judge, New York - Varick. Appointed January 2016 by Loretta E. Lynch.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Kolbe38.7%
New York - DET court60.9%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
671
Asylum granted
390
Other relief granted
21
Denied
260
Against own court
-22.2 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
39%38%25%36%62%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 95% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Official biography

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Judge Kolbe to begin hearing cases in January 2016. Judge Kolbe received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987 from the University of Cincinnati, a Master of Arts degree in 1989 from the University of Cincinnati, and a Juris Doctor in 1996 from the Notre Dame Law School. From 2002 through 2015, Judge Kolbe served as assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn, N.Y. From 1996 through 2002, Judge Kolbe served as an attorney advisor for the Board of Immigration Appeals, Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Department of Justice, in Falls Church, Va., and from 1991 through 1993, as a Peace Corps volunteer in Gabon, Africa. Judge Kolbe is a member of the Ohio 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 New York - DET

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.