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

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

Immigration judges

Mary C. Lee

Immigration Judge, Philadelphia Immigration Court. Appointed May 2019 by William P. Barr.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Lee60.7%
Philadelphia court58.7%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
1,451
Asylum granted
489
Other relief granted
81
Denied
881
Against own court
+2.0 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
61%44%44%60%64%76%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 91% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Guatemala (18.7%), Brazil (16.8%), Honduras (9.5%), Russia (5%), Belarus (4.5%).

Official biography

Attorney General William Barr appointed Mary C. Lee to begin hearing cases in May 2019.Judge Lee ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 2000 and a Juris Doctor in 2009 from Rutgers University. From 2015 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel for Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From 2013 to 2015, she served as an assistant chief counsel for OPLA, ICE, DHS, in Baltimore, Maryland. From 2010 to 2013, she served asan assistant chief counsel for OPLA, ICE, DHS, in Atlanta, Georgia. From 2009 to 2010, sheserved as a judicial law clerk in the Superior Court of New Jersey. From 2000 to 2006, sheserved in the U.S. Air Force in the following locations: Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia;Taegu, South Korea; Langley Air Force Base, Virginia; and Balad, Iraq. Judge Lee is a memberof the New Jersey State Bar and New York 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 Philadelphia

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.