Judge Winfield W. Murray

FY 2019 - 2024, Atlanta Immigration Court

Published Nov 7, 2024

Winfield W. Murray was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in December 2022. Judge Murray earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1998 from Morehouse College, a Juris Doctor in 2001 from Howard University School of Law, and a Master of Laws in 2002 in Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution from the George Washington University School of Law. In 2022, he served as trial counsel for the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in Atlanta. From 2019 to 2021, he served as trial counsel for the Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), in Atlanta. From 2018 to 2019, he served as the deputy chief of staff, Office of the Chief of Staff, Office of the Mayor, City of Atlanta. From 2015 to 2018, he served as trial counsel for the Office of the General Counsel, HUD, in Atlanta. From 2013 to 2015, he served as an assistant city attorney for the City of Atlanta Law Department. From 2010 to 2013, he served as trial counsel for the Office of the Solicitor, DOL, in Atlanta. From 2003 to 2010, he served as a prosecutor with the Atlanta City Solicitor’s Office. From 2002 to 2003, he served as a judicial clerk for the Chief Judge of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Judge Murray is a member of the State Bar of Georgia.

Deciding Asylum Cases

Detailed data on decisions by Judge Murray were examined for the period covering fiscal years 2019 through 2024. During this period, court records show that Judge Murray decided 100 asylum claims on their merits. Of these, he granted asylum for 65, granted 4 other types of relief, and denied relief to 31. Converted to percentage terms, Murray denied 31.0 percent and granted 69.0 percent of asylum cases (including forms of relief other than asylum).

Figure 1 provides a comparison of Judge Murray'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 Murray's denial rate of 31.0 percent, Immigration Court judges across the country denied 57.7 percent of asylum claims during this same period. Judges at the Atlanta Immigration Court where Judge Murray decided these cases denied asylum 84 percent of the time. See Figure 2.

Judge Murray'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 (77%) are denied asylum. In contrast, a significantly higher proportion of represented asylum seekers are successful. In the case of Judge Murray, 20% were not represented by an attorney. See Figure 3. For the nation as a whole, about 16.4% 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 Murray came from Mexico. Individuals from this country made up 22.0% of his caseload. Other nationalities in descending order of frequency appearing before Judge Murray were: Nicaragua (21.0%), Venezuela (18.0%), Colombia (6.0%), Guatemala (6.0%). 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 (14.0%), Guatemala (13.2%), Honduras (12.4%), Mexico (8.2%), China (6.1%), India (5.4%), Venezuela (4.0%), Ecuador (3.7%), Nicaragua (3.5%), Colombia (2.9%), Cuba (2.6%), Brazil (2.6%), Russia (2.4%).