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

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

Immigration judges

Shira M. Levine

Immigration Judge, San Francisco Immigration Court. Appointed October 2021.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Levine2.0%
San Francisco court28.4%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
1,187
Asylum granted
1,134
Other relief granted
29
Denied
24
Against own court
-26.4 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25
1%2%2%2%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 96% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: India (20.8%), Guatemala (19.8%), El Salvador (18%), Mexico (13.2%), Honduras (6.3%).

Official biography

Shira M. Levine was appointed an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in October 2021.Judge Levine earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2005 from the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctorate in 2012 from Stanford Law School. From 2019 to 2021, she worked as Staff Attorneyat Immigration Institute of the Bay Area, in Oakland, California. From 2015 to 2018, she worked as Staff Attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza, in Oakland. From 2013 to 2014, she was a Stanford Public Interest Law Fellow with Legal Aid at Work, in San Francisco. From 2012 to 2013, sheclerked for the Honorable Harry Pregerson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Levine 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

  • CNN · 2025-10-06

    Inside the Trump administration's unprecedented purge of immigration judges

    CNN reports that Shira Levine learned she had been terminated as an immigration judge when a notification appeared on her screen during an asylum hearing in San Francisco. She told CNN she asked for a break, stepped out, and concluded the removal was unprecedented.

  • Mission Local

    Trump admin. fires sixth S.F. immigration court judge

    Mission Local reports that the Justice Department fired San Francisco immigration court judge Shira M. Levine, the sixth judge at that court dismissed by the Trump administration, in a wave of terminations first reported by NBC Bay Area.

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.