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

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

Immigration judges

Natalie Smith

Immigration Judge, Chelmsford Immigration Court. Appointed November 2023.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Smith83.6%
Chelmsford court62.3%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
250
Asylum granted
30
Other relief granted
11
Denied
209
Against own court
+21.3 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY25FY26
80%89%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 84% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Guatemala (15.6%), Brazil (14%), Ecuador (9.6%), Haiti (7.6%), Angola (7.2%).

Official biography

Natalie Ellen Smith was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in November 2023. Judge Smith ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 2008 from New York University and a Juris Doctor in 2012 from Fordham University School of Law. From 2021 to 2023, she served as an assistant chief counsel with the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in New York. From 2012 to 2021, she served as assistant corporation counsel and then as an assistant borough chief and deputy borough chief in the Family Court Division of the New York City Law Department. Judge Smith is a member of the New York State Bar and Ohio 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 Chelmsford

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.