Judge Joshua Hawkes (Elizabeth, NJ) approved 4.2% of decisions at final hearings over 5 years — 119 such decisions in total. National average: 34.9%. Average in this court: 14.1%.
This judge's approval rate is 30.7 pp lower than the national average and 9.9 pp lower than the court average.
At final hearings with this judge, applicants with an attorney were approved in 4.4% of decisions, without an attorney — in 0.0%. 95.0% of applicants had an attorney.
Over 5 years, judge Joshua Hawkes completed 217 cases. Decisions at the final hearing (approval or denial): 119; the rest are decisions at preliminary hearings, in-absentia removals, denials without a hearing, closed, terminated and other cases.
The median time from the start of a case to the decision with this judge is 3 mo.: half of the cases are decided faster, half take longer.
This judge sets the final (individual) hearing on average (median) 14 days after the master hearing; for half of cases, 13 days to 15 days. Court average: 15 days. Nationwide: 12 mo.
In absentia (the person did not come to the hearing), removal was ordered in 0.0% of all cases; without a merits hearing (pretermission), 20.7% were denied. These cases are not part of the approval rate.
Elizabeth, NJ. Court page lists all judges of this court and their approval rates.
This is EOIR data (Executive Office for Immigration Review, US Department of Justice) released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as of September 30, 2026. How the figures are calculated — see “How we calculate”.
Hawkes, Joshua, immigration judge (Elizabeth, NJ). Asylum and other protection-from-removal approval rate at final hearings over 5 years: 4.2%, with 119 such decisions. National average: 34.9%. Court average: 14.1%. Share of applicants with an attorney: 95.0%.
