Zahra Jivani Fenelon

Immigration Judge, Houston Immigration Court. Appointed August 2023.

StrictDenies far more often than the national average+28.6 points

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

Judge Fenelon91.5%

Houston court86.1%

All judges nationally62.9%

Decisions on the merits: 351
Asylum granted: 20
Other relief granted: 10
Denied: 321
Against own court: +5.4 pts

Denial rate by fiscal year
FY24	FY25
85%	98%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 80% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: Honduras (26.8%), El Salvador (13.1%), Mexico (12.5%), Nicaragua (11.7%), Cuba (10.8%).

Official biography

Zahra Jivani Fenelon was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in August 2023. Judge Jivani Fenelon ear ned a Bachelor of Science in 2003 from Houston Baptist University and a Juris Doctorate in 2006 from South Texas College of Law. From 2015 to 2023, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas, where she prosecuted crimes of child exploitation, human traffic king, cybercrime, and white-collar fraud. From 2006 to 2015, she was an assistant district attorney at the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office, where she prosecuted felony crimes. Judge Jivani Fenelon is a member of the State Bar of Texas.

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 Houston

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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.