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

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

Immigration judges

Susan Phan

Immigration Judge, Sacramento Immigration Court. Appointed May 2019 by William P. Barr.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Phan31.0%
Sacramento court27.0%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
1,002
Asylum granted
671
Other relief granted
20
Denied
311
Against own court
+4.0 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY23FY24FY25FY26
26%17%28%67%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 72% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Russia (41.5%), Afghanistan (14.7%), Mexico (12%), India (8.9%), Nicaragua (3.7%).

Official biography

Attorney General William Barr appointed Susan Phan to begin hearing cases in May 2019.Judge Phan ear ned a Bachelor of Arts in 2001 and a Juris Doctor in 2004, both from the University of California, Los Angeles. From 2015 to 2019, she served as an assistant chief counsel for the Office of the Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Departmentof Homeland Security, in San Francisco, California. From 2012 to 2015, she served as an assistant general counsel for the State Bar of California, in San Francisco. From 2009 to 2014,she served as a special assistant U.S. attorney and assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, and for the Eastern District of California in Fresno. From2005 to 2009, she served as an assistant attorney general with the District of Columbia Attorney General's Office in Washington, D.C. Judge Phan is a member of the California State Bar and District of Columbia 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 Sacramento

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.