What is Judge Valerie Burch's background?
EOIR's notice says that Valerie Burch was appointed in September 2016. Judge Burch earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2000 from the University of Rochester and a Juris Doctor in 2004 from the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. From 2012 to September 2016, she was an attorney for The Shagin Law Group, in Harrisburg, Pa. From 2007 through 2012, she was a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg, Pa. From 2004 through 2007, she was a managing attorney for the Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center, in York, Pa.
What does TRAC report about Judge Valerie Burch'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 Valerie Burch decided 557 asylum cases at Indianapolis Immigration Court and denied 82.4 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 Valerie Burch 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 Indianapolis Immigration Court. The relationship is recorded as listed 2026-10-20; it may include supervisory coverage rather than a merits-hearing assignment.