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

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

Immigration judges

Patrick S. O'Brien

Immigration Judge, San Francisco Immigration Court. Appointed August 2017 by Jeff Sessions.

LenientGrants more often than the national average-14.1 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge O'Brien48.8%
San Francisco court28.4%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
1,166
Asylum granted
555
Other relief granted
42
Denied
569
Against own court
+20.4 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
52%31%41%44%64%86%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 92% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Guatemala (21.1%), India (14.4%), Mexico (12.4%), El Salvador (11.7%), Honduras (6.9%).

Official biography

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Patrick S. O'Brien to begin hearing cases in August 2017. Judge O'Brien ear ned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1995 from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and a Juris Doctor in 2000 from University of California, Hastings College of the Law. From 2009 to 2017, he served as an assistant chief counsel for the Office of Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in San Francisco. From 2001 to 2017, he worked for the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corp, entering as a student in 2001; serving as a legal assistance attorney in Korea, 2002 to 2003; trial counsel in Fort Lewis, Wash., and Iraq, 2003 to 2004; as trial defense counsel in Fort Lewis and Afghanistan, 2004 to 2007; special assistant U.S. attorney in Fort Lewis, 2007 to 2008; senior defense counsel, U.S. Army Reserve, 2009 to 2014; a brigade judge advocate, U.S. Army Reserve, 2014 to 2016; and currently as an adjunct professor of international and operational law. Judge O'Brien is a member of the California 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 San Francisco

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.