Immigration Cases by State

55 states and territories with immigration court cases. Texas leads with 1,472,158 cases, followed by California (1,444,634).

Top 20 States by Case Volume

#	State	Code	Total Cases	Share
1	Texas	TX	1,472,158	15.9%
2	California	CA	1,444,634	15.6%
3	Florida	FL	1,083,087	11.7%
4	New York	NY	898,829	9.7%
5	Georgia	GA	319,698	3.5%
6	New Jersey	NJ	312,111	3.4%
7	Illinois	IL	261,666	2.8%
8	Massachusetts	MA	249,905	2.7%
9	Arizona	AZ	247,435	2.7%
10	Virginia	VA	236,105	2.6%
11	Louisiana	LA	216,408	2.3%
12	Maryland	MD	209,825	2.3%
13	Washington	WA	199,981	2.2%
14	North Carolina	NC	163,929	1.8%
15	Pennsylvania	PA	159,664	1.7%
16	Ohio	OH	129,474	1.4%
17	Tennessee	TN	129,002	1.4%
18	Colorado	CO	110,799	1.2%
19	Indiana	IN	105,125	1.1%
20	Nevada	NV	99,260	1.1%
21	Michigan	MI	94,257	1.0%
22	Minnesota	MN	93,953	1.0%
23	Connecticut	CT	78,730	0.9%
24	South Carolina	SC	78,147	0.8%
25	Missouri	MO	73,612	0.8%
26	Utah	UT	72,692	0.8%
27	Kentucky	KY	63,589	0.7%
28	Nebraska	NE	62,853	0.7%
29	Oregon	OR	55,788	0.6%
30	New Mexico	NM	53,472	0.6%
31	Alabama	AL	50,996	0.6%
32	Wisconsin	WI	46,424	0.5%
33	Kansas	KS	44,279	0.5%
34	Oklahoma	OK	41,982	0.5%
35	Iowa	IA	33,331	0.4%
36	Rhode Island	RI	31,910	0.3%
37	Arkansas	AR	30,516	0.3%
38	Mississippi	MS	30,512	0.3%
39	Washington D.C.	DC	24,296	0.3%
40	Idaho	ID	23,762	0.3%
41	Puerto Rico	PR	22,417	0.2%
42	Delaware	DE	17,291	0.2%
43	Hawaii	HI	13,488	0.1%
44	Maine	ME	13,139	0.1%
45	New Hampshire	NH	10,191	0.1%
46	South Dakota	SD	7,335	0.1%
47	Alaska	AK	4,371	0.0%
48	Virgin Islands	VI	3,996	0.0%
49	North Dakota	ND	3,775	0.0%
50	Montana	MT	3,653	0.0%
51	Guam	GU	3,573	0.0%
52	Wyoming	WY	3,030	0.0%
53	West Virginia	WV	2,751	0.0%
54	Vermont	VT	1,868	0.0%
55	Northern Mariana Islands	MP	949	0.0%

Why This Data Matters

Immigration court caseloads are not distributed evenly across the country. A handful of states — California, Texas, New York, and Florida — handle the vast majority of cases. This concentration means immigration policy plays out very differently depending on where you live. A state with overwhelmed courts means longer waits, larger backlogs, and more pressure on judges to move cases quickly.

State-level data also reveals the "geographic lottery" at work. Grant rates, representation rates, and case durations vary enormously by state — driven by differences in court culture, available legal aid, judge composition, and the nationalities of respondents assigned to each court. Understanding these state-level patterns is essential for anyone trying to understand how immigration law is actually applied in practice.

📍 Geographic Lottery Analysis

How location determines immigration court outcomes across the country.

🏛️ Immigration Courts

Court-level detail with grant rates, judges, and top nationalities.

Data source: DOJ EOIR FOIA Case Data, February 2026

Source: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). Data current through February 2026. Learn more →