Hon. Mimi Tsankov (Ret.) is a New York State Human Rights Judge presiding in New York City. She has served as an arbitrator, mediator, and recently retired United States Immigration Judge with over three decades of leadership at the intersection of federal administrative law, international human rights, and judicial advocacy. Following her retirement from the federal bench in 2025, she transitioned into alternative dispute resolution (ADR), serving on permanent neutral panels including JAMS, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Labor Panel, FINRA, and the New York State Court Statewide Mediator Directory. She has also served as an Advisory Board Member for Manifest Law, where she advises on strategic, technology-driven initiatives within the employment-based immigration landscape while ensuring adherence to the highest ethical and judicial standards.
During her nearly two decades as a U.S. Immigration Judge, she presided over complex dockets across the United States—including New York, California, Texas, and Colorado—and was selected to lead specialized, high-priority dockets for vulnerable populations and juveniles. Her exceptional work on the bench earned her official recognition from the Department of Justice for her support of women’s rights, and she played an instrumental role in shaping administrative judicial policy as Chair of the EOIR Board of Immigration Appeals Precedent Committee and as a dedicated judicial mentor.
From 2021 to 2025, Judge Tsankov served as the elected President of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ), representing over 735 federal immigration judges in official
labor-management relations and public advocacy. In this high-profile executive role, she became a leading national voice for judicial reform and the creation of an independent Article I court, testifying directly before the United States Senate and House of Representatives Judiciary Committees. She also managed national media relations, coordinated complex federal labor arbitrations, and represented NAIJ before international bodies like UNICEF to advocate for the rights of juveniles in immigration proceedings.
Her leadership extends deeply into organizations including the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ), where she has served as a presidential appointee, Board Committee Liaison, and elected Vice President of Publications. At NAWJ, she modernized organizational outreach by producing a prominent judicial podcast series and spearheaded a vital national resolution supporting judicial safety through the comprehensive review process. Her tireless defense of the judiciary has earned her widespread acclaim, including serving as a featured speaker in the Speak Up for Justice national program, which has just been awarded the 2026 Judicial Independence Award by the International Association of Judges (IAJ). She also maintains active leadership roles within the American Bar Association (ABA)—where she served as Chair of the National Conference of the Administrative Law Judiciary—and the Federal Bar Association (FBA), where she chaired the Judiciary Division.
Reflecting on her decades of leadership on the federal bench, Judge Tsankov was recently interviewed for The New York Times Magazine feature, The View From Inside Trump’s D.H.S., providing a critical, firsthand perspective on the systemic pressures, policy shifts, and due process challenges reshaping the Department of Homeland Security and the immigration courts. Additionally, she was recently featured in Spain’s public television (RTVE) investigative documentary En Portada: EEUU, Democracia Under Pressure, where she provided expert analysis of the severe political and systemic pressures currently testing the resilience of democratic institutions and the rule of law in the United States.
An accomplished academic and scholar, Judge Tsankov is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law and California Western School of Law, having previously taught immigration and asylum law at the law schools of the University of Colorado and the University of Denver. She is widely published in peer-reviewed journals on topics ranging from legal ethics and remote court technology to domestic violence protections for migrant victims. Judge Tsankov earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served on the editorial board of the Virginia Journal of International Law, laying the foundation for a lifelong career dedicated to global justice, administrative excellence, and the rule of law.
