Alumna Appointed Immigration Judge for the San Francisco Immigration Court

Elizabeth L. Young, JD '04, was sworn in on September 23.

October 4, 2016

Judge Young and Alberto Benitez, Professor of Clinic Law and Immigration Clinic Director

On September 23, 2016, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) appointed Elizabeth L. Young as a judge to the San Francisco Immigration Court. She and 14 others were sworn in during an investiture ceremony in the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C. Acting Chief Immigration Judge Michael C. McGoings presided over the investiture, stating the importance of each new judge. “With these appointments, EOIR now has 291 immigration judges, setting a new all-time high for our immigration judge corps and further strengthening our efforts to address the agency’s pending caseload of more than 500,000.”

Judge Young earned her Juris Doctor degree from GW Law in 2004. While a student, she was executive guide editor of The George Washington International Law Review and spent a year working in the Immigration Clinic. She was also the 2004 recipient of the Richard C. Lewis, Jr. Memorial Award for Clinical Excellence. From 2007 to 2008, Judge Young returned to GW Law as a visiting professor, teaching an immigration law clinic.

Judge Young has devoted a significant amount of her time to service in Arkansas, developing several programs including the Peace at Home Women’s Shelter and the Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas. From 2004 through 2007, she served as an attorney adviser for the San Francisco Immigration Court within the EOIR.  Most recently, she was the creator and director of the immigration law clinic at the University of Arkansas School of Law. She worked for three years at the San Francisco Immigration Court as an attorney adviser through the Department of Justice Honors Program and is a member of the Arkansas Bar, the State Bar of California, and the Virginia State Bar.

Judge Young began hearing cases immediately.