San Antonio Immigration Court: Information Guide

San Antonio Immigration Court Overview

The San Antonio Immigration Court in San Antonio, Texas is responsible for resolving deportation cases for people residing in South Texas. Texas has 12 immigration courts, and the San Antonio Court has 13 judges.

The court not only hears many cases in person but also from people in jails in San Antonio and nearby counties such as:

• Karnes County Correction Center
• Laredo, Texas – Detention Facility
• Rio Grande Detention Center
• Eagle Pass, Texas
• T. Don Hutto Residential
• Mpp Laredo,texas – Port of Entry
• Laredo, Texas – Port of Entry
• San Antonio Detained
• San Antonio Detained Juvenile
• Limestone County Detention Center (Ice)
• San Antonio Non-Detained Juvenile
• San Antonio Satellite Office

In this guide, you will find all the information you need about the San Antonio, Texas Immigration Court such as its address, contact information, processing time, judges, and more.

San Antonio Immigration Court Contact Information

Address

The San Antonio Immigration Court is located at:

800 Dolorosa Street, Suite 300
San Antonio, TX 78207
210-472-6637

Phone number

210-472-6637

This is the number for court clerks and immigration judges’ legal assistants. Note that the court does not accept faxes or any other electronic submissions unless it has been ordered by a judge or one of the court’s staff.

You can find out more about how to check your immigration court date and/or the status of your immigration case from here.

Hours

The court works from 8:00am to 4:00pm and the window Filing hours are from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm with a break from 12:00 pm to 12:30 pm.

Getting to the San Antonio Immigration Court

The Immigration Court in San Antonio is located near Cattleman Square. It is surrounded by Casa Navarro State Historic Site, San Antonio Public Safety Headquarters, and Milam Park.

You can get there by taking the S PanAm Expy, then you can get on I-35 N from Interstate 35 Access Rd, follow I-35 N to W Cesar E. Chavez Blvd, take exit 155B from I-10 W/I-35 N, and continue on W Cesar E. Chavez Blvd to the court.

What the court looks like

From the front, the San Antonio court looks like this:

The back of the court building looks like this:

Immigration Judges in San Antonio

There are 13 judges in the San Antonio Immigration Court. Judge Charles P. Koutras acts as the Assistant Chief Immigration Judge.

Here is a list of the San Antonio Immigration Court judges:

• Justin Adams
• Anibal D. Martinez
• Margaret D. Burkhart
• Charles M. McCullough
• Thomas G. Crossan Jr.
• Rifian S. Newaz
• Yvonne S. Gonzalez
• Daniel J. Santander
• Craig A. Harlow
• Eric J. Tijerina
• Cynthia Lafuente-Gaona
• Meredith Tyrakoski
• Clay N. Martin

Judge Justin Adams has the highest asylum denial rate (88.8%) and the lowest grant rate (11.2%), and Judge Thomas G. Crossan Jr. has the second-highest denial rate (82.4%) and the second-lowest grant rate (17.6%). On the other hand, Judge Daniel J. Santander has the highest grant rate (59%) and lowest asylum denial rate (41%).

Getting a Bond at the San Antonio Immigration Court

Currently, there is no immigration bond form available online for this Immigration Court.

Since 2001, the San Antonio, Texas Immigration Court has heard 22,751 bond cases. It granted 16,509 cased while 6,242 were not granted. Therefore, the court has denied nearly 27.4% of all the cases it has heard in the last 21 years.

According to the bond hearings statistics, the Nationals of El Salvador comes in the first place. The number of total cases from there is 5,413 over the last 21 years. 4,119 of them were granted while 1,294 were not.

Mexican Nationals come in second place. The number of total cases is 3,887 over the last 21 years. 2,434 of these cases were granted while 1,453 were not.

Asylum Decisions in San Antonio

Asylum Denial Rates in San Antonio

7,141 asylum cases were heard by the court over the last 21 years. 4,776 cases were represented while 2,365 cases were not.
Asylum relief was denied in 2,719 of the represented cases while 2,057 asylum cases were granted. Therefore, over the last 21 years, the court has denied about 56% of the represented asylum cases.

This percentage is actually good when compared to other immigration courts such as the El Paso Immigration Court and the Immigration Court in New York.

Nationalities

According to the statistics, Honduras asylum cases comes in the first place with 1,606 asylum cases represented before the court.

Furthermore, El Salvador comes in second place with 1,048 cases asylum cases represented before the court and Mexico in third place with 642 asylum cases.

Backlog and Wait Time in San Antonio

50,100 cases are pending before the Immigration Court in San Antonio. It is the second-highest pending cases number in Texas after the Dallas Immigration Court. Therefore, the backlog is high compared to any other immigration court in Texas except Dallas.

The average waiting time to resolve an immigration case before the San Antonio Court is 987. It is in third place after the Houston court (1,127 Days) and the Houston – Greenspoint (1,067 Days). Therefore, the San Antonio Court is slower than all the other immigration courts in Texas except the Houston court and the Houston – Greenspoint.

Free Lawyers for the San Antonio Immigration Court

6 organizations are approved to provide free services to the cases before the San Antonio Immigration Court. In most cases, it is good to use a free lawyer from one of these organizations, but it may have some downsides.  If you are looking for getting the best help with your immigration case, check our Immigration Court Page.

American Gateways

Since 1987, American Gateways has been providing legal services to central Texas immigrants with a volunteer network made up of hundreds of highly-skilled attorneys, doctors, psychologists, and other professionals who donate their time and expertise for free.

Address: 2300 W. Commerce Street, Suite 313
San Antonio, TX 78207

Phone:(210) 521-4768 ext. 232
Fax:(210) 625-6797

St. Mary’s University School of Law Immigration
and Human Rights Clinic

Address: 2507 NW 36th St
San Antonio, TX 78228

Phone: (210) 431-5714
Fax: (210) 431-5700