Study Finds Discrepancy in Asylum Grants By Immigration Judges

A study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reveals that during a five year period, immigration judges have wildly varying rates for granting asylum to immigrants.  With the 200-plus immigration judges in the U.S. , some judges approve asylum for over half the detainees who appear before them, while other judges let relatively few trickle through.  

The South Florida Sun Sentinel of Ft. Lauderdale documented the plight of Haitian refugees who arrived in March, hoping to obtain asylum in the U.S.   The group of 101 refugees would have their cases heard by Judge Rex Ford, who granted asylum to just 10 percent of the 1,758 cases he decided during the five-year period.  

This data contrasts sharply with results for Everglades-area Judge Denise Slavin, who, like Ford, has her largest segment of her workload involving Haitians.  Slavin granted asylum to nearly 60 percent of the 1,406 cases she heard during the same period.  Slavin, who is also the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said the researchers’ data does not reflect the complexity of the immigration court system.  Personal bias and discrepancies between acceptance rates and how they are reflected in computer records may factor in the decision-making process.   

Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, said authorities have not released any of the group of Haitians on parole, as lawyers requested, while they build their cases.  

For most detainees who arrived by sea, the chance a judge will release them into the U.S. while they seek asylum is rare.  For example, in 2002, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft said detainees who landed on U.S. shores would be released only for humanity reasons into that take into account ‘exceptional circumstances.’  In times past, these circumstances include pregnant women and very sick arrivals.  

Andre Pierre, a Haitian-American immigration lawyer who has counseled many of the Haitians who arrived in March, doubts any Justice Department changes will narrow the wide range of rates at which judges grant asylum.  "You have very good judges who listen to the evidence and make a decision based on the evidence," he said.  But, he added, "Most judges believe Haitians are fleeing violence or because they’re hungry," factors that don’t meet the standard for persecution.  

The report by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse can be found at http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/160/.

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