Last May, Jankun's decision was overturned on appeal and the woman was granted asylum. His reputation here in New York for a while was he never granted a case. Lawyers would be milling around the halls sharing war stories. In Atlanta, Immigration Judge William A. Cassidy reviewed 807 asylum requests filed by Guatemalans who appeared for their hearings during the six-year period studied by The Times. Chief Immigration Judge Michael J. Creppy said he has never looked at data showing how immigration judges rule.
Every case is different.
There is a body of law that should be consistently applied. The language problem can also be formidable. It is hard to find competent interpreters, especially in smaller cities. Immigration judges work in relative obscurity with little oversight. In Los Angeles, Immigration Judge Roy Daniel presided over cases for more than a decade, even as the Justice Department received dozens of complaints about his behavior.