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

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

Immigration judges

Oshea Denise Spencer

Immigration Judge, Houston - Greenspoint Park. Appointed October 2018 by Jeff Sessions.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Spencer92.5%
Houston - Greenspoint court89.4%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
560
Asylum granted
20
Other relief granted
22
Denied
518
Against own court
+3.1 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
71%87%94%94%96%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 75% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Mexico (21.3%), Honduras (20.7%), Venezuela (13.9%), Cuba (10.5%), El Salvador (9.3%).

Official biography

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Oshea Denise Spencer to begin hearing cases in October 2018. Judge Spencer ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 1994 from the University of Texasand a Juris Doctor in 1997 from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. In 2018, she was an attorney for the Public Utility Commission of Texas in Austin. From 2005 to 2018, she was an associate municipal court judge in Baytown, Texas. From 2003 to 2013, she was an assistant district attorney in Richmond, Texas. From 2000 to 2002, she was director of scholarship management for NACME, Inc. in New York. From 1997 to 2000, she was an assistant district attorney in Bronx, New York. Judge Spencer is a member of the New York State Bar and the State Bar of Texas.

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 Houston - Greenspoint

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.