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

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

Immigration judges

Paula Dixon

Immigration Judge, Otay Mesa Immigration Court. Appointed May 2024.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Dixon45.1%
Otay Mesa court56.2%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
144
Asylum granted
45
Other relief granted
34
Denied
65
Against own court
-11.1 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY25
44%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 85% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Russia (20.1%), Mexico (9%), Afghanistan (7.6%), China (6.3%), Georgia (6.3%).

Official biography

Paula Dixon was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in May 2024. Judge Dixon ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 2002 from Arizona State University and a Juris Doctor in 2006 from Seattle University School of Law. From 2018 to 2024, 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 Otay Mesa, California. From 2017 to 2018, she served as a special assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California in San Diego, California. From 2014 to 2016, she was a criminal defense attorney in private practice in Phoenix, Arizona. From 2012 to 2014, she served as an assistant city prosecutor with the City of Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona. From 2007 to 2012, she served as a deputy county attorney at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office in Phoenix, Arizona. Judge Dixon is a member of the State Bar of California.

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 Otay Mesa

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.