What is Judge Suzette Smikle's background?
EOIR's notice says that Suzette Smikle was appointed in October 2022. Judge Smikle earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1997 from Georgetown University and a Juris Doctor in 2002 from Harvard Law School. From 2019 to 2022, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney (AUSA) at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida; and from 2010 to 2019, she served as an AUSA at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. From February 2015 to September 2016, while on a temporary detail, Judge Smikle served as the Resident Legal Advisor for the United States Embassies in Bujumbura, Burundi (February-August 2015) and Niamey, Niger (August 2015 to September 2016) through the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training, Department of Justice. From 2008 to 2010, Judge Smikle served as a regional legal officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, in Washington, D.C., and Lima, Peru; and from 2003 to 2008, she served as a trial attorney with the Consumer Protection Branch of DOJ in Washington, D.C. From 2002 to 2003, before beginning her service as a trial attorney, Judge Smikle was a judicial law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
What does TRAC report about Judge Suzette Smikle'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 Suzette Smikle decided 558 asylum cases at Atlanta Immigration Court and denied 83.2 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 Suzette Smikle 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 Atlanta - W. Peachtree Street Immigration Court. The relationship is recorded as listed 2026-10-20; it may include supervisory coverage rather than a merits-hearing assignment.