What is Judge Paul McCloskey's background?
EOIR's notice says that Paul McCloskey was appointed in October 2018. Judge McCloskey earned a Bachelor of Science in 1996 from Towson State University and a Juris Doctor in 1999 from the University of Maryland School of Law. From 2002 to 2018, he served in several positions with the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, D.C. From 2016 to 2018, he was an associate deputy principal legal advisor for Field Legal Operations. From 2014 to 2016, he was deputy chief of the Criminal Law Section. From 2010 to 2014 he was an associate legal advisor in the Criminal Law Section.
What does TRAC report about Judge Paul McCloskey'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 Paul McCloskey decided 524 asylum cases at Arlington Immigration Court and denied 73.1 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 Paul McCloskey 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.