What is Judge Kelly Lake's background?
EOIR's notice says that Kelly Lake was appointed in March 2019. Judge Lake earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1995 from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Juris Doctor in 1998 from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. From 1999 to 2007, she served as a deputy district attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. From 2007 to 2008 she was an associate legal advisor, Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Washington D.C. Judge Lake served in various capacities for the Department of Justice, including: from 2009 to 2010, as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Illinois; from 2010 to 2014 as an assistant U.S. attorney in the District of the Virgin Islands; from 2014 to 2016, as a trial attorney in the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, Criminal Division, in Washington D.C.; from 2016 to 2017, as the resident legal advisor, Overseas Prosecutorial Development and Training Section (OPDAT), Criminal Division, in Lagos, Nigeria; and from 2017 to 2018, as the resident legal advisor, OPDAT, Criminal Division, in Islamabad, Pakistan.
What does TRAC report about Judge Kelly Lake'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 Kelly Lake decided 304 asylum cases at Memphis Immigration Court and denied 67.4 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 Kelly Lake 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 Memphis Immigration Court. The relationship is recorded as listed 2026-10-20; it may include supervisory coverage rather than a merits-hearing assignment.