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

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

Immigration judges

Nicolas Orechwa

Immigration Judge, Eloy Immigration Court. Appointed May 2023.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Orechwa84.1%
Eloy court69.2%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
352
Asylum granted
35
Other relief granted
21
Denied
296
Against own court
+14.9 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY24FY25FY26
78%84%89%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 49% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Mexico (15.6%), Guatemala (7.4%), Cuba (6%), Russia (6%), Colombia (5.4%).

Official biography

Nicolas Orechwa was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in May 2023. Judge Orechwa ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 1997 from the University of Iowa and a Juris Doctor in 2001 from Loyola University of New Orleans School of Law. From 2017 to 2023, he served as an administrative law judge with the Office of Administrative Hearings for the State of Maryland. From 2006 to 2017, he was an associate, and then partner, at the law firm of Brodsky, Renehan, Pearlstein, and Bouquet CHTD in Gaithersburg, Maryland. From 2005 to 2006, he was a contractor with the U.S. Navy Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals. In 2005 he was a contractor with the U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General. From 2001 to 2004, he served as an assistant district attorney with the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office in New Orleans. Judge Orechwa is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, the Louisiana Bar, and the Maryland 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 Eloy

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.