Thomas B. Fighter at a glance
- Current role
- Immigration Judge
- Current assignment
- Orlando Immigration Court
- Jurisdiction
- Florida · Federal
- Judicial service
- Active
Thomas B. Fighter
Thomas B. Fighter was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in May 2026. Judge Fighter earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance in 2000 from the University of Miami and a Juris Doctor in 2006 from the University of San Diego School of Law. From 2011 to April 2026, he was the owner and chief executive officer of Fighter Law in Orlando, where he founded and managed a multi-practice litigation firm handling criminal defense, injunction proceedings, family law, and personal injury matters. From 2008 to 2011, he was an associate in private practice with Payas, Payas & Payas in Orlando. From 2006 to 2008, he served as an assistant state attorney with the State Attorney’s Office for the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida in Orlando. Since 2012, he has served as a judge advocate in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps, including as a special victim counsel, trial counsel, brigade judge advocate for 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, deputy regional defense counsel with Trial Defense Services, U.S. Army Legal Command, and in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Joint Task Force Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. As deputy regional defense counsel, he supervised four defense teams consisting of attorneys and paralegals. His military service includes deployments to Afghanistan, Kuwait, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Judge Fighter is a member of the Florida Bar and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Immigration Judge · Orlando Immigration Court
Biography
Available research
Immigration analyticsPrecomputed sourced TRAC judge or court context
Biography and careerSource-attributed professional, judicial, and education record
Applicable Court Rules & Procedures10 sourced items · labeled by scope
SourcesOfficial and public records supporting this profile
Hearings & court access
EOIR publishes the following court assignment and hearing-access information for this judge. The hearing notice and current EOIR instructions control whether a particular hearing is remote or in person.
Orlando Immigration Court
- Assigned court
- Orlando Immigration Court
- Webex / internet
- Join EOIR Webex ↗
- Telephone access
- 2831 197 6573
Hearing instructions
EOIR lists Internet-based hearing links and telephonic access codes in its current hearing directory. The hearing notice and current EOIR instructions control whether a particular hearing is remote or in person. Unrepresented respondents generally appear in person unless EOIR directs otherwise.
EOIR hearing directory ↗ · verified August 18, 2026
Immigration court context
TRAC decisions through June 2026; source cutoff 2026-June
No verified judge-specific TRAC report is available for this judge. These figures describe the immigration court, not this judge's individual decisions.
Orlando Immigration Court
- Qualifying decisions
- 27,314
- Asylum granted
- 8,023 (29.4%)
- Other relief granted
- 933 (3.4%)
- Denied
- 18,358 (67.2%)
- Any relief granted
- 8,956 (32.8%)
National comparison
- National denial rate
- 60.0%
- Court vs national denial
- +7.2 pp
- National any-relief rate
- 40.0%
- Court vs national any relief
- -7.2 pp
National context
- Qualifying decisions
- 1,078,236
- Asylum granted
- 388,415 (36.0%)
- Other relief granted
- 42,814 (4.0%)
- Denied
- 647,007 (60.0%)
- Any relief granted
- 431,229 (40.0%)
Precomputed TRAC court and national decisions data: https://tracreports.org/phptools/immigration/asylum/table_json.php · checked 2026-08-30
Current Immigration Court context
Courtwide statistics, not this judge's outcomes. These figures describe Orlando Immigration Court during the current TRAC reporting period.
- New proceedings
- 39,279
- Completed / closed cases
- 29,510
- Average wait time for completed cases
- 919 days
- Backlog
- 222,785
- Average days waited so far
- 880 days
- Average days until hearing
- 1,874 days
- Represented among completed cases
- 24.9%N=7,349 / 29,510
- Detained among completed cases
- 8.7%N=2,556 / 29,510
View full immigration court analytics ↗
Sources
Source period: FY2026/YTD through June 2026. Exact denominators are shown as N/n where available.
TRAC source periods: Fiscal Year NTA Dated=2026 · Fiscal Year Completed=2026 · Fiscal Year=2026 · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Represented=Represented; Fiscal Year Completed=2026 · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Custody=Detained; Fiscal Year Completed=2026 · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Hearing Attendance=Not Present at Last Hearing (Absentia Decision); Fiscal Year Completed=2026 · Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026 · Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026, Bond Hearing Outcome=Granted; Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026 · Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026, Bond Hearing Outcome=Not Granted; Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026 · Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026, Bond Hearing Outcome=Withdraw; Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026 · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Removal Order · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Terminate Proceedings · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Voluntary Departure · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=No NTA Filed · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Grant Relief · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Other Closure · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Credible Fear - not found · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Reasonable Fear - not found · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Withholding Only - relief not granted · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Credible Fear - found · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Asylum Only - relief not granted · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Asylum Only - other · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Witholding Only - other · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Credible Fear - other · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Reasonable Fear - found · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Withholding Only - relief granted · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Other Case Type Completed · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Asylum Only - relief granted · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Reasonable Fear - other.
TRAC filters: Fiscal Year NTA Dated=2026 · Fiscal Year Completed=2026 · Fiscal Year=2026 · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Represented=Represented · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Custody=Detained · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Hearing Attendance=Not Present at Last Hearing (Absentia Decision) · Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026 · Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026, Bond Hearing Outcome=Granted · Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026, Bond Hearing Outcome=Not Granted · Bond Hearing Fiscal Year=2026, Bond Hearing Outcome=Withdraw · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Removal Order · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Terminate Proceedings · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Voluntary Departure · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=No NTA Filed · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Grant Relief · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Other Closure · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Credible Fear - not found · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Reasonable Fear - not found · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Withholding Only - relief not granted · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Credible Fear - found · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Asylum Only - relief not granted · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Asylum Only - other · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Witholding Only - other · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Credible Fear - other · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Reasonable Fear - found · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Withholding Only - relief granted · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Other Case Type Completed · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Asylum Only - relief granted · Fiscal Year Completed=2026, Outcome (detailed)=Reasonable Fear - other.
Provenance: TRAC table_json.php exact value; no estimation. Retrieved 2026-09-06.
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Biography
Professional career
- Thomas B. Fighter was appointed as an immigration judge to begin hearing cases in May 2026. Judge Fighter earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance in 2000 from the University of Miami and a Juris Doctor in 2006 from the University of San Diego School of Law. From 2011 to April 2026, he was the owner and chief executive officer of Fighter Law in Orlando, where he founded and managed a multi-practice litigation firm handling criminal defense, injunction proceedings, family law, and personal injury matters. From 2008 to 2011, he was an associate in private practice with Payas, Payas & Payas in Orlando. From 2006 to 2008, he served as an assistant state attorney with the State Attorney’s Office for the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida in Orlando. Since 2012, he has served as a judge advocate in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps, including as a special victim counsel, trial counsel, brigade judge advocate for 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, deputy regional defense counsel with Trial Defense Services, U.S. Army Legal Command, and in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Joint Task Force Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. As deputy regional defense counsel, he supervised four defense teams consisting of attorneys and paralegals. His military service includes deployments to Afghanistan, Kuwait, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Judge Fighter is a member of the Florida Bar and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Applicable Court Rules & Procedures
Filing requirements
Courtwide
For non-detained individual calendar hearings, advance filings are generally due at least 30 days before the hearing and responses are due within 10 days after the original filing; detained-case deadlines are set by the immigration judge.
For individual calendar hearings involving represented, non-detained aliens, amendments to applications for relief, additional supporting documents, updates to witness lists, and other such documents must be submitted at least thirty (30) days in advance of the individual calendar hearing.
Exhibits
Courtwide
Briefs, motions, and exhibits should use consecutive page numbers, and proposed exhibits or supporting documents should include a table of contents identifying page numbers.
All documents, including briefs, motions, and exhibits, should always be paginated by consecutive numbers placed at the bottom center or bottom right-hand corner of each page.
Witnesses
Courtwide
A witness list should identify each non-respondent witness, summarize the expected testimony, estimate its length, state the testimony language, and include a CV or resume for an expert.
A witness list should include the following information for each witness, except the respondent: the name of the witness; if applicable, the alien registration number (A number); a written summary of the testimony; the estimated length of the testimony; the language in which the witness will testify; and a curriculum vitae or resume, if called as an expert.
Interpreter Request Deadline
Courtwide
A respondent or practitioner should request an interpreter no later than 30 days before the hearing at which interpreter services will be needed.
The respondent or the respondent’s attorney / practitioner of record should request an interpreter no later than 30 days before the next hearing where the interpreter services will be needed.
Addressing The Judge
Courtwide
Address the immigration judge as “Your Honor” or “Judge,” and stand when the judge enters and exits the courtroom.
The Immigration Judge should be addressed as either “Your Honor” or “Judge __.”
Oral argument
Courtwide
Except when questioning witnesses, direct oral argument and statements to the immigration judge rather than debating the opposing party.
All oral argument and statements made during a hearing must be directed to the Immigration Judge.
Recording and broadcasting
Courtwide
Only the immigration judge may record a hearing; practitioners of record may use silent electronic devices only for immediately relevant court business and subject to the judge’s control.
No device of any kind, including cameras, video recorders, and cassette recorders, may be used by any person other than the Immigration Judge to record any part of a hearing.
Hearings
Courtwide
At an individual calendar hearing, be prepared to make opening and closing statements, raise evidentiary objections, present witnesses and evidence, and cross-examine opposing witnesses.
While the Immigration Judge decides how each hearing is conducted, parties should be prepared to:
Courtwide
If the hearing medium is uncertain or an internet-based hearing cannot be accessed, contact the hearing immigration court; unrepresented respondents default to in-person hearings.
Respondents who do not have a representative of record will always have a default hearing medium of in-person, regardless of the indication below.
Remote appearances
Courtwide
Photographing or recording any part of an internet-based immigration hearing is prohibited and may result in penalties.
Photographing or recording through the internet to capture any part of the hearing is strictly prohibited and subject to possible penalties.
Sources
DOJ EOIR current immigration judge directory
Identity source · HTML · checked August 19, 2026
View DOJ EOIR current immigration judge directory ↗Find an Immigration Court and Access Internet-Based Hearings
Judge Specific source · HTML · checked September 15, 2026
View Find an Immigration Court and Access Internet-Based Hearings ↗EOIR Announces 77 Immigration Judges and 5 Temporary Immigration Judges
Identity source · PDF · checked September 15, 2026
View EOIR Announces 77 Immigration Judges and 5 Temporary Immigration Judges ↗