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For immigrants seeking asylum, winning the right to stay in the United States is often a game of chance that comes down to one thing: which judge hears their tale.
A report out this month shows two New York immigration judges with strikingly different records on granting safe haven - illustrating what experts call "refugee roulette."
"One of the most important issues you ask, if they're in court already, is, 'Who's your judge?'" said Zachary Sanders, a New York immigration lawyer.
At 26 Federal Plaza, lawyers hope for Judge Terry Bain, whose asylum acceptance rate is higher than that of any jurist in the nation. From October 2005 through this May, Bain approved 94.5% of applicants, well above the national rate of 46.8%, according to a new report by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
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