TRAC report reveals: Two-Thirds of asylum seekers granted stay in U.S. over last decade

Two out of every three asylum-seekers have been allowed to stay in the U.S. over the past decade, according to a new report by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).

Concretely, out of the almost 1,050,000 cases considered by immigration judges between 2014 and 2024, almost 686,000 were given the right to stay as they concluded they had the right to. A little over 332,500 were deported and the remaining 28,626 were ordered to leave voluntarily, the report added.

Another report by the group from this week showed that there were approximately 1.3 million asylum cases from this fiscal year (which started in October) still waiting for an immigration judge's decision by the end of April 2024.

As a result, the Immigration Court backlog has increased to a total of 3,596,317 cases. "So far this current fiscal year, DHS has added over 1.3 million new cases to the court's docket, while judges have completed just over half a million (517,675)", explains the report. That completion number, however, is a record number for a fiscal year, a sign that hints to lack of resources.

"Although judges are unable to keep up with the flow of new cases into the courts, immigration judges are collectively on track to complete more cases than ever by the end of this year."

At the same time, the Biden administration is set to implement more changes to the country's asylum system to speed up the processing and potential removal of migrants arriving at the southern border, The Associated Press reported.

Concretely, the change allows for certain migrants to be processed through the asylum system rather than be sent to the back of the line, the outlet said, citing four people familiar with the issue.

Other rules under consideration are a sweeping presidential authority that allows him to "suspend the entry" of foreigners when it is determined that their arrival is not in the best interest of the country; and the ability to turn asylum seekers away if they cross illegally. Making it harder for asylum-seekers to pass the first interview to determine whether they can stay in the country is also under review.