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

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

Immigration judges

Silvia Lopez

Immigration Judge, New York - Varick. Appointed November 2023.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Lopez23.7%
New York - DET court60.9%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
118
Asylum granted
84
Other relief granted
6
Denied
28
Against own court
-37.2 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY24FY25
20%29%

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

Silvia Lopez was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in November 2023. Judge Lopez ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 2002 from Saint Mary's College of California and a Juris Doctor in 2007 from New York Law School. From 2021 to 2023, she served as an administrative law judge for New York State. From 2013 to 2021, she was in private practice at The Law Office of Silvia Lopez with a primary focus on criminal defense litigation in New York. From 2008 to 2013, she was an assistant public defender at the Monroe County Public Defender's Office in New York. From 2002 to 2004, she worked as a landlord-tenant counselor for Sentinel Fair Housing in Oakland, California. Judge Lopez is a member of the New York State Bar.

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 New York - DET

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.