What is Judge Francisco Mendez's background?
EOIR's notice says that Francisco Mendez was appointed in October 2018. Judge Mendez earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1992 from Fordham University and a Juris Doctor in 1995 from Fordham Law School. From 2011 to 2018, he was an administrative judge for the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals, Department of Defense (DOD), in Arlington, Virginia. From 2003 to 2011, he was a trial attorney for DOD, also in Arlington. From 1996 to 2016, he served as a judge advocate in the U.S. Air Force, six years on active duty and 14 years in the reserves.
What does TRAC report about Judge Francisco Mendez's asylum decisions?
TRAC, a research center that began at Syracuse University, reports that for FY 2021 - 2026 (data covers the first 9 months of fiscal year 2026), Judge Francisco Mendez decided 394 asylum cases at Arlington Immigration Court and denied 19.0 percent, based on its report of Aug 27, 2026. These are past figures for one court. They do not predict your case, which turns on your facts, evidence, nationality and representation, and TRAC cautions against simple comparisons between judges at different courts. Read the full report at TRAC, and talk to a lawyer about your own case.
What the official record establishes
The source lists the name Francisco Mendez in 1 alphabetical row. The recorded title is Immigration Judge. The record is not an appointment history or an employment certification.
Dated court associations
EOIR’s court-specific tables associate this entry with Annandale Immigration Court. The relationship is recorded as listed 2026-10-20; it may include supervisory coverage rather than a merits-hearing assignment.