What is Judge Nelson Vargas-Padilla's background?
TRAC reports that Nelson Vargas-Padilla was appointed in August 2018. Judge Vargas-Padilla earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1990 from the State University of New York at Albany and a Juris Doctor in 1994 from the University at Buffalo School of Law. From 2016 to 2018, he was litigation and national security counsel for the Litigation and National Security Coordination Law Division, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in Washington, D.C. From 2015 to 2016, he was transformation counsel and immigration officer for the Refugee Affairs Division,USCIS, DHS, in Kenya and Malaysia. From 2013 to 2016, he was transformation counsel for the Transformation Law Division, USCIS, DHS, also in Washington, D.C. From 2001 to 2007, hewas assistant chief counsel; from 2007 to 2009, he was senior attorney; and from 2009 to 2013,he was deputy chief counsel for the Office of Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS, in Baltimore, Md.
What does TRAC report about Judge Nelson Vargas-Padilla'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 Nelson Vargas-Padilla decided 1043 asylum cases at Baltimore Immigration Court and denied 53.5 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 Nelson Vargas-Padilla 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 Baltimore Immigration Court. The relationship is recorded as listed 2026-10-20; it may include supervisory coverage rather than a merits-hearing assignment.