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

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

Immigration judges

Wilbur Lee

Immigration Judge, Santa Ana Immigration Court. Appointed October 2020 by William P. Barr.

StrictDenies far more often than the national average+25.2 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Lee88.1%
Santa Ana court76.5%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
804
Asylum granted
83
Other relief granted
13
Denied
708
Against own court
+11.6 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
77%73%83%91%95%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 92% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Mexico (24.5%), Colombia (11.1%), Nicaragua (9.7%), Guatemala (9.6%), China (9%).

Official biography

Attorney General William P. Barr appointed Wilbur Lee as an Immigration Judge in October 2020. Judge Lee earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1994 from the University of California, Irvine; a Juris Doctor in 1997 from the Southwestern University School of Law; and a Master of Laws in2010 from the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School. From 1998 to 2020, heserved as a judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps in the following locations: Iwakuni, Japan;Arlington, Virginia; District of Columbia; Jacksonville, North Carolina; Oceanside, California;Okinawa, Japan; San Diego, California; and Oahu, Hawaii. While serving as a Marine judge advocate, he served in various positions including defense counsel, appellate counsel, labor and employment counsel, supervisory prosecutor, staff judge advocate, and military judge. Judge Leeis a member of the California State Bar.

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

In the record

  • Executive Office for Immigration Review · 2020-10-09

    EOIR Announces 20 New Immigration Judges

    EOIR announced that Attorney General William Barr appointed Wilbur Lee as an immigration judge at the Los Angeles Olive Immigration Court in October 2020. The notice lists degrees from UC Irvine, Southwestern University School of Law and the Judge Advocate General's Legal Center.

Other judges at Santa Ana

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.