Thursday, May 31, 2007
News Atlanta ranks lowest for granting asylum
Posted by Alyssa Abkowitz on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 10:10 PM
A study of 140,000 asylum cases in the United States has found that refugees who seek asylum in Atlanta have the lowest chance of winning their cases.
According to the study, reported in the New York Times, refugees are granted asylum only 12 percent of the time. The national average is 40 percent.
Here's an example of the broad range of chances a refugee might have:
"The study found that someone who has fled China in fear of persecution and asks for asylum in immigration court in Orlando, Fla., has an excellent — 76 percent — chance of success, while the same refugee would have a 7 percent chance in Atlanta."
Part of what makes Atlanta tough, according to former CL Senior Writer Steve Fennessy's 2004 article, is this:
"The nation's 220 immigration judges deny roughly two asylum cases for every one they grant; [Atlanta immigration judge William] Cassidy, on the other hand, rejects more than 10 asylum applications for every approval. His two colleagues in Atlanta, Paul Johnston and Mackenzie Rast, are barely any kinder. Their approval rates are a few tenths of a percentage point higher than Cassidy's."
No wonder those numbers are startling!
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