What is Judge Maria Akalski's background?
EOIR's notice says that Maria Akalski was appointed in December 2022. Judge Akalski earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1999 from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor in 2002 from New York University School of Law. From 2018 to 2022, she served as an assistant chief counsel, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in New York. From 2015 to 2018, she was an attorney in New York, working for Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen and Loewy from 2017 to 2018, and as an associate counsel for immigration at WME-IMG from 2015 to 2016. From 2007 to 2015, she served in several roles with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DHS: immigration services officer (2007-2008); supervisory immigration services officer (2008-2011); section chief (2012-2014); and deputy field office director (2014-2015) in New York; and as a section chief (2011-2012) in Newark, New Jersey. From 2005 to 2007, she was an immigration attorney at Stephen Jeffries & Associates in New York.
What does TRAC report about Judge Maria Akalski'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 Maria Akalski decided 131 asylum cases at New York - Det Immigration Court and denied 98.5 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 Maria Akalski 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 New York - Varick Immigration Court. The relationship is recorded as listed 2026-10-20; it may include supervisory coverage rather than a merits-hearing assignment.