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

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

Immigration judges

Mario J. Sturla

Immigration Judge, Boston Immigration Court. Appointed September 2016 by Loretta E. Lynch.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Sturla63.3%
Boston court52.6%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
1,654
Asylum granted
564
Other relief granted
43
Denied
1,047
Against own court
+10.7 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
41%56%57%17%75%92%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 92% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Brazil (42.6%), Guatemala (13%), El Salvador (9.1%), Ecuador (8.7%), Honduras (5.5%).

Official biography

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Mario J. Sturla to begin hearing cases in September 2016. Judge Sturla ear ned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2003 from Brown University and Juris Doctor in 2006 from the Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. From 2015 to September 2016, he served as a deputy chief counsel, and previously from 2008 through 2015 as an assistant chief counsel, for the Office of the Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Boston. From 2007 through 2008, he served as a staff attorney for the Office of Legal Affairs, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York City. From 2006 through 2007, he served as a judicial law clerk for the New York City Immigration Court, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Department of Justice, entering on duty through the Attorney General's Honors Program. Judge Sturla is a member of the Massachusetts 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 Boston

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.