Meghan E. Heesch
Immigration Judge, San Diego Immigration Court. Appointed February 2023.
Asylum record, FY 2021-2026
TRAC source →- Decisions on the merits
- 187
- Asylum granted
- 50
- Other relief granted
- 11
- Denied
- 126
- Against own court
- +12.8 pts
| FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|
| 60% | 84% |
Docket
Respondents represented by counsel: 88% (nationally, 81% are represented).
Most common nationalities: Mexico (26.7%), Guatemala (18.7%), Russia (12.3%), Venezuela (10.7%), Colombia (8%).
Official biography
Meghan E. Heesch was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in February 2023. Judge Heesch ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 2007 from the University of Wisconsin- Madison and a Juris Doctor in 2012 from Harvard Law School. From 2015 to 2022, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California in San Diego, entering on duty through the Attorney General's Honors Program. From 2013 to 2015, she served as a clinical teaching fellow and supervising attorney in the Detainee Rights Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School, James H. Binger Center for New Americans. From 2012 to 2013, she served as an attorney advisor at the Orlando Immigration Court, entering on duty through the Attorney General's Honors Program. Judge Heesch is a member of the Maryland State Bar and the Minnesota State Bar.
In the record
No published reporting or appellate decisions naming this judge have been collected yet.
Other judges at San Diego
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.