Samantha Begovich
Immigration Judge, San Francisco Immigration Court. Appointed October 2020 by William P. Barr.
Asylum record, FY 2021-2026
TRAC source →- Decisions on the merits
- 136
- Asylum granted
- 26
- Other relief granted
- 4
- Denied
- 106
- Against own court
- +49.5 pts
| FY26 |
|---|
| 78% |
Docket
Respondents represented by counsel: 91% (nationally, 81% are represented).
Most common nationalities: Colombia (18.4%), India (15.4%), Mexico (14.7%), El Salvador (12.5%), China (8.1%).
Official biography
Attorney General William P. Barr appointed Samantha L. Begovich as an Immigration Judge in October 2020. Judge Begovich earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1991 from the University of California, San Diego, and a Juris Doctor in 1994 from Stanford Law School. From 1996 to2020, she served as a deputy district attorney for the Office of the District Attorney, County of San Diego, California. During this time, in 2015, she also served on detail as a special assistant deputy attorney general for the State of California, Department of Justice. From 1994 to 1996,she served as a trial attorney for the Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section, Department of Justice, entering on duty through the Attorney General's Honors Program. In 1994, while in the Attorney General's Honors Program, she served as a special assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S.Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia. Judge Begovich is a member of the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Texas.
In the record
DOJ Appoints 20 New Immigration Judges, Including Two at Otay Mesa
The paper reports that Samantha Begovich, a deputy district attorney with the San Diego County District Attorney's Office since 1996, was among 20 immigration judges appointed by Attorney General William Barr and was assigned to the Otay Mesa Immigration Court.
Concord Immigration Court: Mega hearings drive removal orders
Mission Local's report on mass calendar hearings at the Concord Immigration Court describes Judge Samantha Begovich presiding remotely over a courtroom of respondents in June 2026 and warning immigrants about the consequences of failing to appear, as judges' daily caseloads rose sharply.
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.