Mr. Samuel Der-Yeghiayan currently serves as a U.S. Immigration Judge in Chicago. He was recently recommended to fill a vacancy in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by Senator Peter Fitzgerald.

Mr. Der-Yeghiayan was born in Syria and immigrated to the U.S. when he was 19 years old. He earned his B.A. from Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri in 1975, majoring in political science. In 1978, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire where he served on the Law Review Editorial Board.

Mr. Der-Yeghiayan began his legal career under the Attorney General’s Honors Program and was appointed in 1978 as a Trial Attorney for the Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS) in Chicago. Four years later, he was promoted to District Counsel for the INS Chicago District with jurisdiction over the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. From 1982 to 2000, he managed one of the largest INS legal processing programs in the nation and supervised a staff of more than 20 government attorneys, including Special Assistant United States Attorneys.

During his tenure with the INS, he served as part of the government team litigating cases in both the U.S. District Courts and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He also served on various national legal committees, including the committee relating to national security and anti-terrorism. Since his 2000 appointment to the U.S. Immigration Court in Chicago, he has carried one of the heaviest caseloads in the immigration court system.

For 20 consecutive years, from 1981 to 2000, Der-Yeghiayan received Outstanding Performance Ratings as a U.S. Justice Department Attorney from the Attorney General of the United States. He has also received Superior Accomplishment Awards as a government attorney and Certificates of Appreciation from the Chicago Bar Association for the contributions to the Chicago Lawyer’s Court Handbook. In 1986, he received the Frank J. McGarr Award of the Federal Bar Association as the Outstanding Federal Government Attorney in Chicago. In 1998, he received the District Counsel of the Year Award from the Commissioner of the INS and the U.S. Attorney General.