New York · est. 2013Thursday, September 24, 2026
Inside Immigration

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

Immigration judges

Shasha Xu

Immigration Judge, New York/Federal Plaza Immigration Court. Appointed August 2023.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Xu72.1%
New York court47.7%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
412
Asylum granted
82
Other relief granted
33
Denied
297
Against own court
+24.4 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY24FY25FY26
49%65%88%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 86% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Official biography

Sha Sha Xu was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in August 2023. Judge Xu earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2007 from Duke University and a Juris Doctor in 2011 from the Temple University Beasley School of Law. From 2019 to 2023, she served as an assistant chief counsel, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in New York. From 2016 to 2019, she served initially as an asylum officer and then as a senior asylum officer, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS, in New Jersey. From 2011 to 2016, she was in private practice at various law firms in New York and Pennsylvania. Judge Xu is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar.

As published by the Executive Office for Immigration Review at appointment, via TRAC.

In the record

  • Documented · 2026-06-19

    Inside the 'Mega Master' Hearings Reshaping New York's Immigration Courts

    Documented describes Judge Xu presiding over a mass calendar hearing in New York, telling attorneys 'I know I saw some of you less than two months ago' and running out of available trial dates before finishing the initial wave of cases, with unrepresented respondents still to come.

  • The Conversation, via Detroit Legal News · 2025-07-25

    Immigration courts hiding the names of ICE lawyers goes against centuries of precedent

    A law professor's analysis reports that in June 2025 Immigration Judge ShaSha Xu told lawyers in her New York courtroom 'we're not really doing names publicly,' shielding government attorneys' identities while requiring immigrants' lawyers to identify themselves, and citing privacy concerns when challenged.

  • Executive Office for Immigration Review · 2023-08-11

    EOIR Announces 38 New Immigration Judges

    EOIR announced the appointment of ShaSha Xu as an immigration judge at the New York Broadway Immigration Court, beginning in August 2023. From 2019 to 2023 she served as an assistant chief counsel in ICE's Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

Other judges at New York

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.