Variation & Subjectivity in the Immigration Court System and its Impact on Northern Triangle Country Asylum Seekers Público
Cherry, Madison (Spring 2021)
Abstract
In my thesis, I argue that subjectivity is one of the most significant drivers of variation in asylum grant rate, and in doing so I highlight the inequities that applicants face. I will focus on factors that impact asylum grant rate within immigration courts and discuss how this variation impacts Central American applicants from the Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras). My research will explore the differences between the immigration courts located in Atlanta and Philadelphia through a side-by-side comparison. The purpose of my thesis is to identify the factors that lead to the wide variation in grant rate amongst immigration courts and propose actionable solutions to better standardize the process. In 2019, there was a record number of 79.5 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. Among those individuals, 26 million were categorized as refugees and 4.2 million were categorized as asylum seekers (“Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2019”). When granted asylum, an asylum seeker is then categorized as an asylee. An asylee meets the definition of refugee and requests asylum from inside the United States or a port of entry (“Refugees and Asylum”). In 2019, the United States received a total of 307,704 asylum applications. Of those applications, almost 50% or 102,793 were from the Northern Triangle countries. Across the US, asylum grant rate varies dramatically amongst the eight principal asylum offices and 63 immigration courts that are tasked with approving asylum requests. My findings indicate that subjectivity, by which I mean administrative or judicial discretion, is a key factor in causing variation at every stage of the immigration process. Therefore, my call to action includes ways to best combat this subjectivity as well as proposed solutions to the structural inefficiencies in the immigration system.
Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………........................1
Methods………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......................…..3
Chapter One: Reasons for Fleeing: Emigration from Northern Triangle Countries & US Response at the Border…………..7
Chapter Two: United States Immigration Overview: A Breakdown of the Refugee and Asylum Processes ......................19
Chapter Three: A Comparison of the Atlanta and Philadelphia Immigration Courts……….………..................................42
Chapter Four: Causes of Variation in Asylum Grant Rate & Actionable Reform……………………….................................63
Chapter Five: A Call for Reform in the Immigration Court System & US Policy Alternatives……....................................79
Epilogue…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..............88
Appendix……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………............…….93
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..................97
About this Honors Thesis
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Variation & Subjectivity in the Immigration Court System and its Impact on Northern Triangle Country Asylum Seekers () | 2021-04-23 20:05:36 -0400 |
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