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INS ISSUES PEAK AT ASYLUM APPLICATION STATISTICS
The INS Supervisory Office for Policy & Quality Assurance Asylum Division has released statistics on asylum applications for October 1997. The statistics are listed below. The numbers are useful because they reveal important changes that have occurred in the way the asylum process has changed since major asylum process reform rules went into effect early last year. Some of the more interesting numbers include the following:

- nearly one third of asylum applicants failed to show up for their interviews (presumably because such applicants felt their cases were not meritorious, they failed to receive notice of the hearings, they received immigrant visas in some other status before the interview was to be held, or they left the country before the interview was granted)

- 17% of interviews were cancelled by the INS (no explanation is offered for this surprisingly large number)

- The INS is dividing up its interviews 50/50 between dated cases filed under the old asylum rules and cases filed under the new fast track asylum rules.

- Out of old cases filed, only 23% are being approved by the INS; for new cases, the approval rate is much higher - 77%.

- For October, the largest number of asylum applications came from Mexican nationals; other countries with the largest number of applicants included El Salvador, Haiti, Guatemala, China, India and Iran.

- The busiest of the eight asylum offices is New York, followed by Los Angeles, Newark and Miami

- Based on the October numbers, the office with the highest approval rate is San Francisco (102 approvals and 5 denials); the lowest is Neward (50 approved and 102 denied).

Here are the numbers:

October Asylum Data

Information provided by:

Christine Davidson
Supervisory Asylum Officer for Policy & Quality Assurance
Asylum Division, International Affairs, INS
425 I Streetm NW (Attn: ULLICO, 3rd Floor)
Washington, DC 20536
202-305-2663 (phone)
202-305-2918 (fax)


ASYLUM OFFICE WORKLOAD
October 1997

Asylum Workload                   Month  	Percent
Application Filed                 6,004
  Received                        4,154       69%
  ABC cases                       142          3%
  Non-ABC cases                   4,012       97%
Reopened                          1,850       31%
Interviews Scheduled              18,901
  Conducted                       5,829       31%
  No shows                        6,198       33%
  Cancelled by applicant          3,693       20%
  Cancelled by INS                3,181       17%
Interviews Conducted              5,829
  Pre-Reform cases                2,901        50%
  Reform cases                    2,928        50%
Preliminary Decisions             2,209
  Recommended approvals           954          43%
  Denials                         1,255        57%
Cases Adjudicated                 3,904
  Approvals                       552          14%
   Pre-reform cases               125          23%
   Reform cases                   427          77%
  Denials                         517          13%
   Pre-reform cases               391          76%
   Reform cases                   126          24%
  Referrals (interviewed cases)   2,835        73% 
   Pre-Reform cases               1,198        42%
   Reform cases                   1,637        58%
Cases Completed                   10,798
   Pre-reform cases               7,542        70%
   Reform cases                   3,258        30%
  Adjudicated                     3,904        36%
   Pre-reform cases               1,714        44%
   Reform cases	                  2,190        56%
  Referrals (uninterviewed cases) 68            1%
   Pre-reform cases               na
   Reform cases                   68
  Administratively Closed         8,828       63%
   Pre-Reform cases               5,828       85%
   Reform cases                   998         15%
Charging Documents Served         5,470
   Principals                     4,535       83%
   Dependents                     935         17%
Pending end of month              393,747



ASYLUM APPLICATIONS FILED

October 1997


Office		Applications  Percent   Received  Reopened

Total              6,004	          4,154     1,850
Arlington            658        11%       557       101
Chicago              303         5%       257       46
Houston              233         4%       198	    35
Los Angeles        1,467        24%       1,001     466
Miami                764        13%       586       178
Newark               811        14%       348       463
New York           1,182        20%       663       519
San Francisco        586        10%       544       42



LEADING NATIONALIATIES FOR ASYLUM APPLICATIONS
FILED WITH INS
October 1997


Rank         Nationality     Applications Filed    Percent
		Total		   6,004

1            Mexico          696                   12%
2            El Salvador     602                   10%
3            Haiti           518                    9%
4            Guatemala       509                    8%
5            China           481                    8%
6            India           263                    4%
7            Albania         191                    3%
8            Somalia         191                    3%
9            Mauritania      173                    3%
10           Iran            162                    3%

		Top 10 nationalities      3,786        63%
		Other nationalities       2,218        37%


ASYLUM INTERVIEWS CONDUCTED

October 1997

Office        Interviews      Interviews           No		
              Scheduled       Conducted   %        shows      %	

Total         18,901          5,829      31%       6,198    33%	    
Arlington     677             363        54%       116      17%
Chicago       534             323        60%       68       13%         
Houston       722	      344        48%       52        7%        
Los Angeles   5,490           1,831      33%       2,058    37%        
Miami         2,991           650        22%       807      27%	   
Newark        3,119           807        26%       1,276    41%	     
New York      4,411           1,025      23%       1,634    37%		 
San Francisco 957             486        51%       187      20%         

Office              Rescheduled        Rescheduled 
                    by Applicant   %   by INS           %

Total               3,693        20%   3,181          17%

Arlington           129          19%   69             10%
Chicago              84          16%   59             11%
Houston             286          40%   40              6%
Los Angeles         732          13%   869            16%
Miami               664          22%   870            29%
Newark              789          25%   247             8%
New York            938          21%   814            18%
San Francisco        71           7%   213            22%


ASYLUM APPLICATIONS PENDING

October 1997



Office       Asylum Cases       Local          Circuit
             Pending            Office         Ride

Total        393,747            348,305        45,442

Arlington     45,473             37,939         7,534
Chicago       11,820              3,676         8,144
Houston       20,950             16,769         4,181
Los Angeles  153,189            151,538         1,651
Miami         51,980             51,373         607
Newark        38,858             22,887	      15,969
New York      37,035             37,035
San Francisco 34,444             27,088          7,356



ASYLUM CASES COMPLETED

October 1997


Office    Cases     Cases      Cases     Referred      Referred       Cases
          Completed  Approved   Denied   (Interviewed)(Uninterviewed) Closed

Total     10,798     552        517      2,835          68             6,826

Arlington 291        45          9        133           1              103
Chicago   367        28          33       141           5              160
Houston   244        28          50       107           12             47
L.A.      3,398      184         248      678           8              2,280
Miami     1,503      37          31       361           6              1,068
Newark    1,893      50          102      489           9              1,243
New York  2,529      78          39       534           16             1,862
San Fran. 573        102         5        392           11             63
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Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk.