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

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

Immigration judges

Zakia Mahasa

Immigration Judge, Baltimore Immigration Court. Appointed August 2018 by Jeff Sessions.

Asylum record, FY 2021-2026

TRAC source →
Judge Mahasa29.5%
Baltimore court55.7%
All judges nationally62.9%
Decisions on the merits
508
Asylum granted
318
Other relief granted
40
Denied
150
Against own court
-26.2 pts
Denial rate by fiscal year
FY21FY22FY23FY24FY25FY26
48%19%3%8%33%75%

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

Docket

Respondents represented by counsel: 91% (nationally, 81% are represented).

Most common nationalities: El Salvador (34.6%), Honduras (18.7%), Guatemala (11%), Nigeria (4.1%), Cameroon (3.9%).

Official biography

Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed Zakia Mahasa to begin hearing cases in August 2018.Judge Mahasa ear ned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1981from the Universityof Maryland and a Juris Doctor in 1986 from the University of Maryland, Carey School of Law. From 1997 to 2018, she was magistrate in the Circuit Court for Baltimore. From 1992 to 1994,she was a staff attorney and, from 1994 to1997, she was a supervising attorney, both for the House of Ruth domestic violence legal clinic, also in Baltimore. From 1987 to 1992, she was anat torney with the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland. Judge Mahasa is a member of the Maryland 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 Baltimore

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.