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

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

Immigration judges

Michael Schnitzer

Immigration Judge, Atlanta W. Peachtree Street Immigration Court. Appointed June 2020 by William P. Barr.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Schnitzer80.7%
Atlanta court82.4%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
114
Asylum granted
13
Other relief granted
9
Denied
92
Against own court
-1.7 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22
89%70%

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: Mexico (27.2%), Guatemala (22.8%), Honduras (21.1%), El Salvador (15.8%), Ethiopia (3.5%).

Official biography

Attorney General William P. Barr appointed Michael A. Schnitzer as an immigration judge in June 2020. Judge Schnitzer ear ned a Bachelor of Science in 1994 from The Ohio State University and a Juris Doctor in 1997 from the John Marshall School of Law. From 2016 to2020, he served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of Chief Counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Phoenix. From 2012 to 2016, he served in the Illinois Office of the Attorney General, as a bureau chief for the Revenue Litigation Department, assistant bureau chief for the Department of Employment Security, and assistant attorney general in the Court of Claims. From 1998 to 2012,he was in private practice, in Chicago. Judge Schnitzer is a member of 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 Atlanta

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.