Judge Thomas G. Snow

FY 2018 - 2023, Arlington Immigration Court

Published Oct 19, 2023

Judge Snow was appointed as an Immigration Judge in October 2005. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977 from the College of William and Mary, a Master of Arts degree in 1980 and a Juris Doctorate in 1982, both from the University of Virginia. From 1991 to October 2005, Judge Snow served as principal deputy director for the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, Department of Justice (DOJ). He also worked as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Virginia Law School from 1995 to 2005 where he taught international criminal law. In 1989, Judge Snow served as an attorney advisor in the Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State. He was a trial attorney from 1984 to 1989 in the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, DOJ. Judge Snow served as a trial attorney in the voting section of the Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice, DOJ, from 1982 to 1984. He is a member of the District of Columbia and Virginia Bars.

Deciding Asylum Cases

Detailed data on decisions by Judge Snow were examined for the period covering fiscal years 2018 through 2023. During this period, court records show that Judge Snow decided 338 asylum claims on their merits. Of these, he granted asylum for 151, granted 7 other types of relief, and denied relief to 180. Converted to percentage terms, Snow denied 53.3 percent and granted 46.8 percent of asylum cases (including forms of relief other than asylum).

Figure 1 provides a comparison of Judge Snow's denial rate each fiscal year over this recent period. (Rates for years with less than 25 decisions are not shown.)

Nationwide Comparisons

Compared to Judge Snow's denial rate of 53.3 percent, Immigration Court judges across the country denied 60.6 percent of asylum claims during this same period. Judges at the Arlington Immigration Court where Judge Snow decided these cases denied asylum 55.8 percent of the time. See Figure 2.

Judge Snow's asylum grant and denial rates are compared with other judges serving on the same court in this table. Note that when an Immigration Judge serves on more than one court during the same period, separate Immigration Judge reports are created for any Court in which the judge rendered at least 100 asylum decisions.

Why Do Denial Rates Vary Among Judges?

Although denial rates are shaped by each Judge's judicial philosophy, denial rates are also shaped by other factors, such as the types of cases on the Judge's docket, the detained status of immigrant respondents, current immigration policies, and other factors beyond an individual Judge's control. For example, TRAC has previously found that legal representation and the nationality of the asylum seeker are just two factors that appear to impact asylum decision outcomes.

The composition of cases may differ significantly between Immigration Courts in the country. Within a single Court when cases are randomly assigned to judges sitting on that Court, each Judge should have roughly a similar composition of cases given a sufficient number of asylum cases. Then variations in asylum decisions among Judges on the same Immigration Court would appear to reflect, at least in part, the judicial philosophy that the Judge brings to the bench. However, if judges within a Court are assigned to specialized dockets or hearing locations, then case compositions are likely to continue to differ and can contribute to differences in asylum denial rates.

Representation

When asylum seekers are not represented by an attorney, almost all of them (80%) are denied asylum. In contrast, a significantly higher proportion of represented asylum seekers are successful. In the case of Judge Snow, 9.2% were not represented by an attorney. See Figure 3. For the nation as a whole, about 15.7% of asylum seekers are not represented.

Nationality

Asylum seekers are a diverse group. Over one hundred different nationalities had at least one hundred individuals claiming asylum decided during this period. As might be expected, immigration courts located in different parts of the country tend to have proportionately larger shares from some countries than from others. And, given the required legal grounds for a successful asylum claim, asylum seekers from some nations tend to be more successful than others.

The largest group of asylum seekers appearing before Judge Snow came from El Salvador. Individuals from this country made up 45.3% of his caseload. Other nationalities in descending order of frequency appearing before Judge Snow were: Honduras (18.9%), Guatemala (16.3%), China (3.3%), Cameroon (2.7%). See Figure 4.

In the nation as a whole during this same period, major nationalities of asylum seekers, in descending order of frequency, were El Salvador (16.6%), Guatemala (15.1%), Honduras (13.8%), Mexico (9.2%), China (6.8%), India (5.1%), Venezuela (3.2%), Ecuador (3.1%), Cuba (2.4%), Nicaragua (2.3%), Brazil (2.0%), Colombia (1.4%), Cameroon (1.4%).