New York · est. 2013Friday, September 25, 2026
Inside Immigration

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

Immigration judges

Matthew E. Morrissey

Immigration Judge, Omaha Immigration Court. Appointed April 2017 by Loretta E. Lynch.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Morrissey90.6%
Omaha court85.8%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
974
Asylum granted
46
Other relief granted
46
Denied
882
Against own court
+4.8 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
92%87%92%81%94%91%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 83% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Guatemala (43%), El Salvador (11.6%), Mexico (11.1%), Honduras (9.3%), Nicaragua (4%).

Official biography

Former Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Matthew E. Morrissey to begin hearing cases in April 2017. Judge Morrissey earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2001 from Saint Louis University and a Juris Doctor in 2004 from the Creighton University School of Law. From 2008 to March 2017, he served as an assistant chief counsel for the Office of Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Omaha, Neb. From January 2004 to 2008, he was an associate attorney with Chandra Law Office. Judge Morrissey is a member of the Nebraska State Bar and the Missouri Bar.

As published by the Executive Office for Immigration Review at appointment, via TRAC.

In the record

  • Flatwater Free Press · 2023-07-06

    America's toughest road to asylum runs through the Omaha immigration court

    Flatwater Free Press reports that Matthew Morrissey is one of three judges deciding the vast majority of Omaha immigration court cases, and that all three, former ICE attorneys, denied more than 80% of the asylum cases they decided through September 2022 according to TRAC.

  • Executive Office for Immigration Review · 2017-04-10

    Executive Office for Immigration Review Swears in 14 Immigration Judges

    EOIR announced that Matthew E. Morrissey, appointed by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, began hearing cases at the Omaha Immigration Court in April 2017. From 2008 to March 2017 he was an assistant chief counsel with ICE.

Other judges at Omaha

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.