New data out this week from a Syracuse University research center Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, shows that under the Biden administration, the percentage of asylum seekers who are winning their cases is rising.
In a report released this week, TRAC says the success rate for asylum cases rose from 29% in 2020 to 37% in 2021. But Austin Kocher, a TRAC researcher and assistant professor at Syracuse University, says that doesn’t mean more people are actually getting asylum.
"Fewer people have actually received asylum in terms of total numbers in the past year, but the percent of people who are succeeding in their asylum cases in immigration court has actually increased," he said.
Kocher says one reason for that increase could be that more asylum seekers have legal representation, up from 80% in 2020 to 89% in 2021.
President Biden has also reversed some Trump-era limitations, like a restriction on asylum claims based on gang or domestic violence, meaning more people could be eligible for protection.
Still, Luis Herrera Sebastian, who works with asylum seekers as a lawyer with the legal aid group Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, says many people with claims like those aren't able to take their case to court.
"We haven't had the opportunity to see those types of cases come to light, in front of the immigration judges, for a variety of reasons," he said. "Most prominent among them is probably Title 42."
Title 42 is the pandemic policy that began under the Trump administration and continues under Biden. It allows border officers to quickly turn away most migrants at the border, including asylum seekers. Herrera says under the policy, immigration officers have different practices for screening asylum seekers and determining who is allowed to enter the U.S. As a result, the number of cases referred to his office are way down.
"What we're seeing is just an overall huge dip in referrals of cases," he said.
