New York · est. 2013Thursday, September 24, 2026
Inside Immigration

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

Immigration judges

Morris I. Onyewuchi

Immigration Judge, Port Isabel Detention Center. Appointed March 2016 by Loretta E. Lynch.

StrictDenies far more often than the national average+26.8 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Onyewuchi89.7%
Los Fresnos court84.3%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
311
Asylum granted
13
Other relief granted
19
Denied
279
Against own court
+5.4 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23FY24
86%90%87%91%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 24% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Nicaragua (25.7%), Mexico (16.1%), Honduras (13.2%), El Salvador (7.7%), Colombia (6.1%).

Official biography

Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Judge Morris I. Onyewuchi to begin hearing cases in March 2016. Judge Onyewuchi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1990 from Georgia State University, a Juris Doctor in 2002 from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University, and a Master of Studies in International Human Rights Law in 2010 from the University of Oxford in Oxford, U.K. From 2002 to February 2016, Judge Onyewuchi served as assistant chief counsel and trial attorney for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Judge Onyewuchi is a member of the State Bar of Texas.

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

In the record

  • Executive Office for Immigration Review · 2016-03-14

    EOIR Swears in Eight Immigration Judges

    EOIR announced that Attorney General Loretta Lynch appointed Morris I. Onyewuchi to the Port Isabel Immigration Court, beginning cases in March 2016. From 2002 to February 2016 he served as assistant chief counsel and trial attorney for ICE.

Other judges at Los Fresnos

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.