Legal Information

Asylum Statistics in the United States

According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), more than 1.5 million asylum claims have been filed since 1973 (1). The September 11th attack on the USA has dramatically impacted the number of asylum applications the USCIS receives and processes. In 2003, 27% fewer asylum applications were submitted than the previous year (1). The number of asylum applications filed continues to drop.

The USCIS explains the graph above with the following text (2):
"The number of applications for asylum in September 2004 decreased 23% compared to the number filed in September 2003. The pending caseload was 30% lower than in the same month last year. Nationals of the People’s Republic of China submitted the most asylum applications in September 2004, followed by Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador, Columbia, and Mexico. About 85% of the pending caseload involves aliens whose cases may be adjudicated under one of the provisions of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997 (NACARA) or the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 (HRIFA), rather than through an asylum process. The pending caseload excluding those special-group cases is approximately 30,500 cases."

The USCIS does not impose limits on the number of asylum applications that it can receive or approve per year (1). However, the percentage of asylum claims granted varies widely from country to country. For instance, in 2003, 51% of the asylum claims made by persons from Iraq were approved compared to the 5% of approved asylum claims made by Filipinos (1). This difference reflects the Department of State’s foreign policy. As a general rule, individuals from countries that are politically or militarily opposed to the United States—such as Cuba, Iraq, and the former Soviet Union—have a higher chance of obtaining asylum. Meanwhile, individuals from countries that are known to have serious human rights violations, but also receive political or military support from the United States, such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Philippines, are not likely to obtain asylum (1).

References:
1. Office of Immigration Statistics. 2003 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. Available at: http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/aboutus/statistics/RA2003yrbk/2003RA.pdf
2. Office of Immigration Statistics. Department of Homeland Security Fiscal Year 2004 Immigration Monthly Statistical Report, September 2004 Year End Report. Available at: http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/statistics/publications/msrsep04/index.htm