We’ve long known that the New York Asylum Office (in Bethpage, NY) has the lowest approval rate of any Asylum Office in the United States. According to data from 2021, the asylum approval rate in NY was 7.4%. That’s nearly half the approval rate of the second worst Asylum Office (Boston), and seven times worse than the best Asylum Office (New Orleans).

While the problem is not new, there has always been a question of why the NY office has such a low approval rate. A scathing new report from Safe Harbor Clinic at Brooklyn Law School sheds light on this important question. (more…)

Continue reading

Dear Asylum Office –

Did you ever have an annoying friend who keeps wanting to tell you what’s what? Who couldn’t accept that you’re not interested in his advice about how to improve your life? Who blathers on about this-and-that without noticing that you’ve nodded off? I get it. But here I am anyway. The fact is, my dear Asylum Office, you’re a mess and something needs to be done.

Please don’t misunderstand when I say that you’re a mess. I am speaking as a friend. Or maybe a frenemy. According to your own data, there are now (as of December 2021) more than 438,500 cases pending at our nation’s Asylum Offices. Many applicants have been waiting for years without an interview and with no real hope of receiving a decision any time soon. The good news is that you’ve hired 80 brand-spankin’ new officers to interview older (pre-2016) cases. But the concern is that these officers will not be used efficiently or fairly. Luckily, I am here to offer some unsolicited advice about maximizing efficiency and protecting due process of law. (more…)

Continue reading