Attorney General William Barr appointed Deborah E. Klahr to begin hearing cases in October 2019. Judge Klahr earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1989 from Stern College, Yeshiva University and a Juris Doctor in 1992 from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. From 2018 to 2019, she served first as a supervisory immigration officer and then as a section chief with the New York City Field Office, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in New York. From 2017 to 2018, she served as a senior immigration services officer with the Newark Field Office, USCIS, DHS, in Newark, New Jersey. From 2013 to 2017, she served first as an asylum officer and then as a supervisory asylum officer with the Newark Asylum Office, USCIS, DHS, in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. From 2009 to 2013, she was immigration counsel with Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper P.C., in Westfield,
New Jersey. From 2004 to 2013, she was an immigration attorney in private practice. From 2000 to 2004, she was a senior immigration associate with Merrill R. Cohen & Associates P.C., in New York. From 1997 to 1999, she was a staff attorney for the Bar Association for the City of New York, in New York. From 1996 to 1997, she was a litigation associate with Spector & Ehrenworth P.C., in Florham Park, New Jersey. From 1992 to 1996, she was a staff attorney for JASA/Legal Services for the Elderly, in New York. Judge Klahr is a member of the New Jersey State Bar and New York State Bar.