# Kyra S. Lilien

Former Immigration Judge · [Concord Immigration Court](/kyj/court/ca/concord-immigration-court)

## Kyra S. Lilien at a glance

Current role

Former Immigration Judge

Court

[Concord Immigration Court](/kyj/court/ca/concord-immigration-court)

Jurisdiction

California · Federal

Judicial service

Former

Historical EOIR data

## Outcomes at a glance

Total outcomes

1,043

Relief granted

348 33.4%

Denied / removal ordered

388 37.2%

Other / procedural

307 29.4%

National comparison for this selection: 9,249,024 outcomes; 10.0% relief granted; 52.0% denied / removal ordered; 38.0% other / procedural.

Methodology and sources

These are proceeding outcomes, not asylum application statistics. Completion years use EOIR COMP_DATE; 2026 contains partial-year data. Relief granted, denied / removal ordered and other / procedural exhaust the recorded outcomes. Groups of one are included. Historical outcomes do not establish a current assignment. Counts describe recorded cases and do not predict an individual's result.

[Official EOIR case data](https://fileshare.eoir.justice.gov/EOIR%20Case%20Data.zip) · Source date: Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:14:27 GMT

## Biography

### Professional career

- Former U.S. immigration judge who served at the Concord Immigration Court in California from August 2023 until her removal in July 2025
- Appointment: August 2023 under President Biden / Attorney General Garland Border Crossing Law Firm
- Senior Counsel at Van Der Hout, LLC, an immigration law firm in San Francisco

### Education


### Additional information

- Controversy: She and another judge were among 60 immigration judges removed since January 2025.
- Removal from bench: Fired on July 11, 2025, during her two-year probationary period
- Career before the bench: Director of Immigration Legal Services, Jewish Family & Community Services – East Bay (2021–2023) Staff attorney, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2016–2021) Asylum officer & interim training officer, USCIS San Francisco Asylum Office (2013–2016) Immigration program director, Centro Legal de la Raza, Oakland (2010–2013) Associate attorney, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, San Francisco (2007–2010, pro bono immigration work) Research fellow, UC Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center, International Criminal Court, The Hague (2006–2007)
- Other relief: Included 6 other types of relief; most common were withholding of removal and voluntary departure Border Crossing Law Firm
- Reports indicate she sued the DOJ alleging gender, age, and political bias in her termination InsideImmigration
- She has extensive experience in immigration law, including international human rights and war crimes work
- Her removal has been widely reported in Bay Area media and legal outlets InsideImmigration
- Bar admissions: State Bar of California; also listed as member of New York Bar
- Asylum outcomes: Granted asylum in 66.4% of cases (249 grants, 129 denials)

## Sources

Identity source checked October 6, 2026 .

### DOJ EOIR current immigration judge directory

Identity source · HTML · Source checked October 6, 2026

[Public Records & Data Use](/public-records-data-use) · [Corrections policy](/corrections)

## Courtroom rules

[Official EOIR hearing and filing instructions](https://www.justice.gov/eoir/policy-manual-eoir)