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

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

Immigration judges

Shuting Chen

Immigration Judge, San Francisco Immigration Court. Appointed October 2022.

LenientGrants far more often than the national average-52.5 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Chen10.4%
San Francisco court28.4%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
946
Asylum granted
817
Other relief granted
31
Denied
98
Against own court
-18.0 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY23FY24FY25FY26
2%7%20%23%

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 (20.6%), Guatemala (17.3%), Nicaragua (10.8%), Mexico (8.9%), El Salvador (8.5%).

Official biography

Shuting Chen was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in October 2022. Judge Chen earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2006 from the University of Oklahoma and a Juris Doctor in 2009 from Harvard Law School. From 2020 to 2022, she served as a staff attorney in the immigration unit of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco. From 2011 to 2020, she was an immigration attorney in private practice. From 2010 to 2011, she was an associate at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, in Washington, D.C. Judge Chen 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

  • NBC Bay Area · 2025-11-25

    'An all-out attack on immigration court': SF immigration judges speak out after firings

    San Francisco immigration judges Shuting Chen and Jeremiah Johnson told NBC Bay Area they were fired without warning or stated cause. Chen, appointed under the Biden administration in 2022, said she cried in her courtroom in front of the parties when she saw the email.

  • Executive Office for Immigration Review · 2022-10-26

    EOIR Announces 32 New Immigration Judges

    EOIR announced the appointment of Shuting Chen as an immigration judge at the San Francisco Immigration Court, beginning in October 2022. From 2020 to 2022 she was a staff attorney in the immigration unit of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

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.