# Immigration Appeals from California Courts: How Many Cases Are Appealed and What Happens

Source: https://www.obrienimmigration.com/appeals/california-statistics
Publisher: O'Brien Immigration, PC. Legal content last reviewed 2026-10-21.

# Immigration appeals from California courts, 2023 to 2025

Of the 499,378 immigration court cases California judges completed from 2023 through 2025, 5.9% were appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. As of September 2026, 70.4% of those appeals were still waiting for a decision.

5.9% of completed cases were appealed to the Board

70.4% of those appeals were still pending in September 2026

9.8% of decided appeals were sent back to the judge (remanded)

59.6% of decided appeals were dismissed or denied

## Court by court

| Immigration court | Cases completed | Appealed | Appeals still pending | Appeals decided | Remanded | Dismissed or denied |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ana | 85,893 | 8,794 (10.2%) | 7,461 (83.0%) | 1,526 | 93 (6.1%) | 865 (56.7%) |
| San Francisco | 84,257 | 5,001 (5.9%) | 2,850 (53.8%) | 2,452 | 303 (12.4%) | 1,741 (71.0%) |
| West Los Angeles | 80,554 | 2,705 (3.4%) | 2,390 (86.9%) | 359 | 11 (3.1%) | 130 (36.2%) |
| Van Nuys | 51,012 | 2,242 (4.4%) | 1,852 (81.7%) | 414 | 32 (7.7%) | 157 (37.9%) |
| Los Angeles (North Los Angeles Street) | 49,968 | 3,342 (6.7%) | 1,735 (48.1%) | 1,874 | 172 (9.2%) | 1,291 (68.9%) |
| San Diego | 41,796 | 1,317 (3.2%) | 950 (69.5%) | 417 | 16 (3.8%) | 204 (48.9%) |
| Sacramento | 25,952 | 1,517 (5.8%) | 1,332 (86.6%) | 206 | 17 (8.3%) | 37 (18.0%) |
| Concord | 24,928 | 2,749 (11.0%) | 2,501 (90.0%) | 278 | 47 (16.9%) | 107 (38.5%) |
| Otay Mesa (detained) | 23,654 | 467 (2.0%) | 106 (20.9%) | 401 | 58 (14.5%) | 187 (46.6%) |
| Imperial (detained) | 19,532 | 415 (2.1%) | 187 (42.0%) | 258 | 42 (16.3%) | 123 (47.7%) |
| Adelanto (detained) | 11,832 | 980 (8.3%) | 270 (23.2%) | 892 | 96 (10.8%) | 567 (63.6%) |
| All listed courts | 499,378 | 29,529 (5.9%) | 21,634 (70.4%) | 9,077 | 887 (9.8%) | 5,409 (59.6%) |

Percent appealed is of cases completed. Percent pending is of appeals filed. Remanded and dismissed or denied are percentages of the appeals the Board has decided so far; the rest of the decided appeals ended in other ways. [Download the table (CSV)](https://www.obrienimmigration.com/appeals/california-statistics.csv).

## What the numbers say

- Most appeals are still waiting. Seven in ten appeals from cases completed in 2023 to 2025 had no Board decision by September 2026. An appeal is a long process, and while a timely appeal is pending the judge's removal order generally cannot be carried out ([8 CFR 1003.6(a)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-8/section-1003.6)).
- Courts differ a great deal. The share of cases appealed ranged from about 2% in the detained courts at Otay Mesa and Imperial to 11% in Concord. Those differences reflect who appears in each court, whether they are detained, and whether they have a lawyer, not only the judges.
- The decided appeals are not a random sample. Appeals decided quickly, such as detained cases, are over-represented among the decisions so far. Treat the remand and dismissal rates as a snapshot, not a prediction for any one case.

## How this was counted

EOIR Case Data (the Justice Department's public bulk data), snapshot dated September 1, 2026, analyzed with Passim AI (BIA Edge). Counts are proceedings completed by an immigration judge in calendar years 2023 through 2025, and the appeals filed from them, as of the snapshot. An appeal can be counted once per proceeding even when more than one appeal was filed in it. "Remanded" means the Board sent the case back to the immigration judge. These are descriptive counts from government administrative data, not a measure of any judge's fairness and not a prediction for any case. Data snapshot 2026-09-01; page updated 2026-10-21.

[EOIR's public case data](https://www.justice.gov/eoir/foia-library-0)

Written and reviewed by [Jeffrey O'Brien](https://www.obrienimmigration.com/team/jeffrey-obrien), Founding Attorney, O'Brien Immigration, PC ([State Bar profile](https://apps.calbar.ca.gov/attorney/Licensee/Detail/249022)). Legal content last reviewed 10/21/2026. Every rule on this page links to the regulation, statute or court decision it comes from. This page is general information, not legal advice for your case, and reading it does not make us your lawyers.