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

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

Immigration judges

Roberto Amaya

Immigration Judge, Santa Ana Immigration Court. Appointed March 2022.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Amaya80.9%
Santa Ana court76.5%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
538
Asylum granted
78
Other relief granted
25
Denied
435
Against own court
+4.4 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY23FY24FY25FY26
30%83%93%97%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 94% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Mexico (18.2%), Colombia (17.5%), Nicaragua (16.5%), China (8.6%), Guatemala (7.8%).

Official biography

Roberto K. Amaya was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in March 2022. Judge Amaya ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 1998 from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Juris Doctor in 2001 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco. From 2006 to 2022, he was in private practice at the Law Offices of Roberto K. Amaya, in Lancaster and Panorama City, California. From 2003 to 2006, he was an Associate Attorney with the Law Offices of Alma Rosa Nieto, in Los Angeles. In 2002, he was an Associate Attorney with the Law Offices of Edgardo Quintanilla, in Sherman Oaks, California. Judge Amaya 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 Santa Ana

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.