Ernest Gonzalez

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas district Appointed by Joseph R. Biden (Democratic) 7 signed orders read

How Judge Gonzalez decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

Adopts magistrate Reports and Recommendations denying the Government's Rule 12(c) and summary-judgment motions in FTCA cases where scope-of-employment is plausibly alleged.

“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation of the Honorable United States Magistrate Judge Matthew Watters, ECF 28, is ADOPTED and that the Government's Motions, ECF 16, are DENIED.”

Procedural preferences

Denies emergency TRO and stay-of-removal requests on the merits where the plaintiff shows no likelihood of success on APA unreasonable-delay claims; a VAWA prima facie finding does not itself entitle a petitioner to relief.

“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff Javier Erazo Toro's Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Request for Administrative Stay of Removal, ECF 4, be DENIED in its entirety.”

Cautions

Dismisses claims for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1).

“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants Officer No. 4 John Doe and Malex Logistics LLC's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction, ECF 4, is GRANTED.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Valdez v. Officer No. 4 John Doe and Malex Logistics LLC
2:24-cv-00088-EG-JAC · 2025-06-10
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Defendants Officer No. 4 John Doe and Malex Logistics LLC's Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction, ECF 4, is GRANTED.”

Lara v. Angel Martinez, M.D.
2:25-cv-00001-EG-MHW · 2025-10-03

Judge Gonzalez adopted Magistrate Judge Matthew Watters's recommendation and dismissed the amended complaint without prejudice after the plaintiff failed to prosecute the case or complete service for about a year despite three extensions. Because the court acted on its own rather than on a party's motion, the dismissal is not included in the motion statistics.

United States v. Jorge Ibarra-Rangel
2:24-cr-03521(1)-EG · 2025-03-20

After clear-error review and with no objection filed, Gonzalez accepted the magistrate judge's recommendation and the defendant's guilty plea. The disposition concerned a plea rather than a contested motion.

Washington v. Caterpillar, Inc.
6:24-cv-00310-EG-DTG · 2025-03-11
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Granted

“the Court RECOMMENDS that the Motion be GRANTED and the case be DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”

Zertuche v. United States
2:24-cv-00067-EG-MHW · 2025-11-24
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Report and Recommendation of the Honorable United States Magistrate Judge Matthew Watters, ECF 28, is ADOPTED and that the Government's Motions, ECF 16, are DENIED.”

Summary judgment (defendant) Denied
Erazo Toro v. NOEM
2:26-cv-00019-EG · 2026-03-20
Motion for temporary restraining order (plaintiff) Denied

“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Plaintiff Javier Erazo Toro's Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Request for Administrative Stay of Removal, ECF 4, be DENIED in its entirety.”

Ruiz v. Responsive Deployment
2:25-cv-00003-EG-MHW · 2026-03-23
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Moot / procedural

“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, ECF 26, and Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, ECF 32, are DENIED AS MOOT without prejudice to filing motions to dismiss Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Moot / procedural

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Judge Gonzalez's Del Rio docket is dominated by illegal-reentry prosecutions and immigration-related habeas petitions. His smaller civil docket includes transferred or removed cases, an inherited civil-rights action filed before his commission, and several Waco patent matters referred to Magistrate Judge Gilliland.

Put Judge Gonzalez's record to work

Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Gonzalez actually rules, not a generic AI guess.

Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Gonzalez's own signed orders and cites them.