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

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

Immigration judges

Matthew Chan

Immigration Judge, Santa Ana Immigration Court. Appointed December 2021.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Chan64.4%
Santa Ana court76.5%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
506
Asylum granted
143
Other relief granted
37
Denied
326
Against own court
-12.1 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25
4%34%61%87%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 93% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Nicaragua (22.3%), Mexico (15%), Colombia (12.8%), India (9.3%), China (9.1%).

Official biography

Matthew C. Chan was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in December 2021. Judge Chan ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 2008 from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Juris Doctor in 2011 from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. From 2011 to 2021, he served as an Assistant Chief Counsel (ACC), Office of the Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Los Angeles. While an ACC, from 2019 to 2021, he served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, in Los Angeles. Judge Chan is a member of the State Bar of California and the Illinois State 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 Santa Ana

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.