Judge Soper has consistently granted asylum in over 67 percent of his cases, effectively allowing a significant number of migrants into the country. This level of leniency is problematic and flouts the purpose of legitimate asylum system.  For comparison, while immigration judges across the country denied 60.6 percent of claims on average, Judge Soper denied only 32.2 percent of claims – a staggering difference from the average, according to statistics provided by TRAC Immigration by Syracuse University:

Detailed data on decisions by Judge Soper were examined for the period covering fiscal years 2018 through 2023. During this period, court records show that Judge Soper decided 534 asylum claims on their merits. Of these, he granted asylum for 349, granted 13 other types of relief, and denied relief to 172. Converted to percentage terms, Soper denied 32.2 percent and granted 67.8 percent of asylum cases”

Compared to Judge Soper's denial rate of 32.2 percent, Immigration Court judges across the country denied 60.6 percent of asylum claims during this same period. Judges at the Arlington Immigration Court where Judge Soper decided these cases denied asylum 55.8 percent of the time.

(Source)

For Judge Soper to deviate so significantly from the average denial rate indicates a lax immigration world view that would be incompatible with the immigration agenda of a conservative administration.

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