Paul A. McCloskey
Immigration Judge, Annandale Immigration Court. Appointed October 2018 by Jeff Sessions.
Asylum record, FY 2021-2026
TRAC source →- Decisions on the merits
- 175
- Asylum granted
- 17
- Other relief granted
- 2
- Denied
- 156
- Against own court
- +9.5 pts
| FY25 |
|---|
| 89% |
Docket
Respondents represented by counsel: 41% (nationally, 81% are represented).
Most common nationalities: Bolivia (17.7%), Honduras (16.6%), Peru (14.9%), Colombia (12%), Guatemala (8.6%).
Official biography
Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Paul A. McCloskey to begin hearing cases in October 2018. Judge McCloskey earned a Bachelor of Science in 1996 from Towson State University anda Juris Doctor in 1999 from the University of Maryland School of Law. From 2002 to 2018, heserved in several positions with the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, D.C. From 2016 to2018, he was an associate deputy principal legal advisor for Field Legal Operations. From 2014to 2016, he was deputy chief of the Criminal Law Section. From 2010 to 2014 he was an associate legal advisor in the Criminal Law Section. From 2008 to 2010, he was an associate legal advisor in the Enforcement Law Division, serving on a detail as a trial attorney in the Domestic Security Section, Criminal Division, Department of Justice. From 2002 to 2008, hewas an assistant chief counsel in Baltimore and New Orleans. From 2001 to 2002, he was a senior immigration officer in the Office of Congressional Relations with the former Immigrationand Naturalization Service (INS) in Washington, D.C. From 1999 to 2001, he was a presidential management intern with INS in Washington, D.C. Judge McCloskey is a member of the Maryland State Bar.
In the record
How One Anti-Migrant Bureaucrat is Quietly Reshaping American Asylum
Migrant Insider profiles Judge Paul A. McCloskey as a career bureaucrat whose procedural precision, local advocates say, makes his courtroom the place where asylum hopes go to die, and reports his promotion to serve as a temporary appellate immigration judge.
Executive Office for Immigration Review Swears in 46 Immigration Judges
EOIR announced that Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Paul A. McCloskey to the Arlington Immigration Court, beginning cases in October 2018. From 2002 to 2018 he held several positions with ICE's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.
Other judges at Annandale
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.