Asylum claims from Central America up over 800%, easy way ‘to get in the door’
Eric Gay/AP
Asylum claims from Central American immigrants have soared over 800 percent in just the past six years, with most granted a free pass into the country despite court statistics that only 5 percent eventually are granted asylum, according to Justice and United Nations data.
From 2012 to 2017, claims from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, have gone from 8,519 to 76,023, an increase of 892 percent. Those countries are the source of the current "crisis" on the border.
Most are allowed into the country after claiming “credible fear” at U.S. ports of entry while their cases are considered. While only a handful are officially granted asylum, most remain in the U.S. illegally, according to public policy experts.
The asylum claims come from the three countries responsible for most of the immigrants into the United States over the Mexican border. The claims initially began to jump as violence increased in those countries but picked up steam as immigrants saw it as an easy way into the U.S.
“It’s not that conditions have changed much in these countries, but that they figured out that asylum was a way to get in the door. Clearly, the lenient policies that enable people to get into the United States just by claiming a fear of return – the ‘credible fear’ standard – is attracting more and more people every year,” said immigration policy expert Jessica M. Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies.
“They know they can make this claim and will be allowed in with no consequences, and can disappear into the larger illegal population, and may or may not show up for their immigration proceedings,” she added.
She and others believe the standard for claiming asylum is poor, especially when put up against the statistic that just 3-5 percent of the claims are officially granted at hearings.
In 2016, for example, over 10,000 claims were made from Honduran immigrants. Just 670 were approved. Over 17,000 El Salvadoran claims were sought and 753 were granted. And over 11,000 came from Guatemalans and under 700 were granted, according to the statistics.
“Something is wrong if we are approving 80 percent of the new arrivals for entry under the current ‘credible fear’ standard, but so few of them actually are approved. That suggests that the credible fear standard is way too low and out of sync with the legal standards for asylum itself,” said Vaughan.
Officials note that claims can be handled other ways before going to court. For those who cross the border illegally then make an asylum claim, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency explains the process this way: “The immigration judge then decides whether the individual is eligible for asylum. If found eligible, the immigration judge will order asylum to be granted. If found ineligible for asylum, the immigration judge will determine whether the individual is eligible for any other forms of relief from removal. If found ineligible for other forms of relief, the immigration judge will order the individual to be removed from the United States. The immigration judge’s decision can be appealed by either party.”
Most of the surge came under former President Obama and it overwhelmed immigration courts. The open door under Obama may have encouraged the increase, said Vaughan.
“It was utterly dysfunctional, as if by design. It would be one thing if we had such an orderly process and such respect for the law that people came in, made their claims, were adjudicated promptly, and went right home if denied -- then we wouldn’t have to detain people. But the reality is that many do not even file a formal application after we let them in on ‘credible fear’ and if they do, they often don’t show up for their hearing, and if they do and they are denied, they hide instead of show up for removal. This is a farce that clogs up the asylum system and denies swift protection to the deserving applicants and their families,” she said.
President Trump has sought to change the system and cut the number of those granted asylum.
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