A Mounting Asylum Backlog and Growing Wait Times

Over four out of every ten Immigration Court cases in which asylum applications have been filed since October 2000 are still pending. That means that of the 1.6 million Court cases in which asylum applications were filed, two-thirds of a million asylum seekers (667,229) are still waiting for hearings to resolve their cases. See Figure 1.

These wait times have ballooned. Current wait times for cases in the asylum backlog now average 1,621 days. This translates into 54 months or nearly four and a half years. See Table 1.

For many asylum cases, multiple hearings are required before an Immigration Judge reaches a final decision. The initial hearing is called a Master Calendar hearing.[1] Master Calendar hearings are similar in some respects to an arraignment in a criminal case: multiple cases are heard at the same session and the purpose is to sort out what is needed for the case to move forward and ultimately be resolved. Even the wait for a Master Calendar hearing is an average of 1,136 days in cases in which an asylum application has already been filed. Just under a third of pending asylum cases, some 205,178 immigrants, are currently waiting for a Master Calendar hearing.

For those waiting for their asylum application to be heard in an individual hearing, the wait is now 1,751 days, some 58 months or close to five years.

Further, one in six immigrants in pending asylum cases are waiting for their next hearing even to be scheduled. These don't tend to be new cases since the average time they have already waited as of the end of September 30, 2021, is already 1,089 days. If, because of clogged court schedules, their hearings put them at the end of the line, their next hearing may well be over 2,000 days out, the equivalent of nearly a six-year wait from when the DHS initiated their case by issuing their Notice to Appear (NTA).

Asylum seekers arrive at the Immigration Court through two main paths: as referrals from Asylum Officers in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) ("affirmative" cases), or directly in response to deportation filings by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) where asylum claims are raised as a defense ("defensive" cases).[2]

In general, as shown in Table 2, affirmative asylum cases have somewhat lower average wait time than defensive cases. This reflects both the relative growth rates over time of affirmative and defensive asylum cases, as well as their geographic distribution. As discussed later in this report, wait times vary by Immigration Court so these differences reflect to some extent the distribution of affirmative versus defensive cases among Courts.

Growth in the Asylum Backlog

Year after year asylum applications filed in Immigration Court have far exceeded decisions rendered on these applications. This has been true for decades. See Figure 2. Thus, the existence of an asylum backlog is not new. What is new is the current monumental size of the backlog and the failure over the last two decades to successfully halt the backlog's explosive growth.[3]

Asylum cases are among the more complex and time-consuming cases that Immigration Judges handle. In FY 2012 asylum filings made up around two in every ten deportation cases filed with the Immigration Court. Asylum filings, however, have risen faster than all deportation cases. During each of the last three years, asylum filings comprised about three out of every ten Court filings.

At the end of FY 2012 the asylum backlog stood at 105,919. Ten years later the backlog had climbed to 667,229, or 6.3 times the size. The affirmative asylum backlog had grown from 73,676 to 196,994 or 2.7 times the size, while the defensive asylum backlog had grown during the same period from just 32,243 to 470,235 or 14.6 times as large. See Figure 3 and Table 3.

Given this explosive growth, asylum cases make up an ever larger proportion of the Court's backlog. At the end of FY 2012 asylum cases made up about one out of three cases in the overall Court backlog. By the end of FY 2021, the proportion of the asylum cases (33%) in the total Court's backlog had climbed to just under half (46%). And this may be an underestimate. Asylum applications are typically filed after a case is well underway, and until an asylum application is filed with the Court, the case is not to be counted in the asylum backlog. Thus, some asylum applications are undoubtedly yet to be filed in a number of existing cases.

Table 4 breaks down the asylum backlog increase by presidential administration. By the end of the Obama administration at the end of FY 2016, the asylum backlog had grown to 163,451. This was an increase of 57,532 cases or a 54 percent jump since four years earlier. This increase occurred despite many efforts by that administration to reduce the overall backlog of which asylum cases formed an important part.

Policies adopted to curtail the backlog's growth during the Trump administration were also unsuccessful in stopping the asylum backlog's growth. From FY 2017 to FY 2020, the backlog shot up to 614,751. This was an increase of 451,300 cases, nearly 8 times the increase during the last four years of the Obama administration. See Figure 4.

While there was a sharp drop in asylum applications with the partial Court shutdown as a result of COVID, asylum case completions also dropped. Thus, the asylum backlog continued to build and now has reached 667,229. Indeed, the increase in the asylum backlog in just the first year of the Biden administration (52,478) was almost as large as the increase during the last four years of the Obama administration (57,532). See Table 4.

Table 3. Growth in the Immigration Court Asylum Backlog Over the Past Decade, FY 2012 - FY 2021

Asylum Application Type	Fiscal Year										2012 vs 2021
Asylum Application Type	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2012 vs 2021
	Asylum Case Backlog										Ratio
All	105,919	108,398	114,603	136,145	163,451	259,871	364,990	489,003	614,751	667,229	6.3
Affirmative	73,676	69,999	64,001	66,263	60,553	69,024	105,818	152,396	182,778	196,994	2.7
Defensive	32,243	38,399	50,602	69,882	102,898	190,847	259,172	336,607	431,973	470,235	14.6
	# Annual Change in Backlog										# Change
All		2,479	6,205	21,542	27,306	96,420	105,119	124,013	125,748	52,478	561,310
Affirmative		-3,677	-5,998	2,262	-5,710	8,471	36,794	46,578	30,382	14,216	123,318
Defensive		6,156	12,203	19,280	33,016	87,949	68,325	77,435	95,366	38,262	437,992
	% Annual Change in Backlog										% Change
All		2.3%	5.7%	18.8%	20.1%	59.0%	40.5%	34.0%	25.7%	8.5%	530%
Affirmative		-5.0%	-8.6%	3.5%	-8.6%	14.0%	53.3%	44.0%	19.9%	7.8%	167%
Defensive		19.1%	31.8%	38.1%	47.2%	85.5%	35.8%	29.9%	28.3%	8.9%	1358%

Completed Asylum Cases and Outcomes

Asylum grant rates have often been the focus of public attention and discussion. An implicit assumption is often made that if the immigrants' asylum applications are denied that they have been unsuccessful in their quest to legally remain in the U.S. However, this may not always be the case. In addition to asylum, there are often other avenues for relief, and other types of decisions where the Immigration Court can determine that an individual should be allowed to legally remain in the U.S. This report breaks new ground in empirically documenting just how often asylum seekers' quests to legally remain in the U.S. have been successful.

According to case-by-case records of the Immigration Courts, Immigration Judges completed close to one million cases (967,552) on which asylum applications had been filed during the last 21 years (October 2000 - September 2021). Of these, judges granted asylum to 249,413 or one-quarter (26%) of these cases.

However, only about half of asylum seekers were ordered deported. More specifically, just 42 percent received removal orders or their equivalent,[4] and an additional 8 percent received so-called voluntary departure orders. These orders require the asylum seekers to leave the country, but unlike removal orders voluntary departure orders do not penalize individuals further by legally barring them for a period of years from reentry should their circumstances change.

The remaining one-quarter (24%) of asylum seekers were granted other forms or relief or Immigration Judges closed their cases using other grounds which allowed asylum seekers to legally remain in the country.[5] When this proportion is added to asylum grant rates, half of asylum seekers in Immigration Court cases — about twice the individuals granted asylum — have been successful in their quest to legally remain in the United States at least for a period of time. See Figure 5.

Focusing on just Immigration Court asylum cases, however, does not take into consideration asylum seekers who have asylum granted by Asylum Officers from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Those cases end there with the asylum grant. Only unsuccessful cases are forwarded to the Immigration Court for review afresh, and thus included in the Immigration Court's records. These referrals of asylum denials by USCIS Asylum Officers are classified in the Court's records as affirmative asylum cases,[6] to distinguish them from those that start with DHS seeking a removal order from the Immigration Court and the asylum claim being raised as a defense against removal.

Thus, a more complete picture of asylum seekers to the U.S. would add in the asylum grants by USCIS on these affirmative cases. Over the period since October 2000, the total number of asylum grants totals just under 600,000 cases - more than double the asylum grants by Immigration Judges alone.[7] Asylum Officers granted asylum in just over 350,000 cases, while Immigration Judges granted asylum in an additional close to 250,000 cases. See Tables 5a and 5b.

Asylum grants thus make up almost half (46%) of the outcomes on the total number of 1.3 million cases closed in which asylum applications were filed. An additional one in five (18%) were granted some other form of relief or otherwise allowed to legally remain in the U.S. Thus, almost two-thirds (64%) of asylum seekers in the 1.3 million cases which were resolved have been successful over the past two decades.

Figure 5 above presents a side-by-side comparison of asylum case outcomes when examining Immigration Court completions alone, and how outcome percentages shift once Asylum Officers' asylum grants are combined with decisions made by Immigration Judges.

Where Asylum Cases Have Been Filed

Asylum applicants have been quite unevenly distributed across the United States. Over the last two decades, just four Immigration Courts have accounted for almost half of asylum applications and decisions. These four Courts are based in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco.[8] The remaining more than 60 Courts roughly account for the other half.

The New York City Immigration Court has handled the largest number of asylum applicants, over one quarter million from FY 2001 through FY 2021. Judges there have completed two thirds of these cases so far.[9] The second busiest Court when it comes to asylum applicants is on the opposite side of the country in Los Angeles. It has had slightly over 180,000 asylum applicants during this same period, and has completed almost three-fourths of these cases.[10]

The Miami and San Francisco Immigration Courts have had the third and fourth largest concentrations of asylum applicants. Each of these two Courts have received over 125,000 cases involving asylum seekers. In Miami, judges there have managed to complete two-thirds of their cases, comparable to the completion percentage in New York City. San Francisco has a higher proportion of cases (44%) still pending.

After these top four Courts, cases involving asylum seekers, while still numerous in other major urban areas, drop off significantly. A complete listing of Court locations, sorted by the number of closed asylum cases during the last two decades, is found in Table 6.

Asylum Seekers Success Rates by Immigration Court

The success of asylum seekers in completed cases varied widely by Immigration Court.[11] This is also shown in Table 6. The highest proportion of asylum seekers who won a favorable outcome allowing them to remain in this country was in the New York Immigration Court where 73 percent out of the 169,496 cases they closed, in which asylum applications were filed were successful. This was followed by the Honolulu Immigration Court (69%), the San Francisco and Phoenix Immigration Courts (each 65%) and the Boston Court (61%).

While these Courts made up the top five with respect to asylum success rates, they were followed closely by other Courts including Portland (60%), Arlington (60%), Sacramento (59%), Los Angeles (56%), and Newark (55%). All of these were significantly above the national average of a 50 percent success rate.

The lowest proportion of asylum seekers who won a favorable outcome occurred for the Immigration Court handling detained cases in Fishkill, New York. There only 4 percent were not ordered deported. Four other Immigration Courts - including three handling detained cases - had success rates of less than 10 percent. These were Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands (6%), Jena, Louisiana (9%), Lumpkin, Georgia (9%), and Napanoch, New York (9%). See Table 6 for a complete court-by-court listing.

Table 6. Immigration Cases in Which Asylum Applications Filed and Outcome by Location, FY 2001- FY 2021

Immigration Court Location	Asylum Cases Filed FY 2001-2021			Closed Asylum Cases				Outcome (Percent)
Immigration Court Location	Filed	Still Pending	Percent Pending	Total Closed	Removal Ordered	Vol Departure Order	Total Departure Ordered	Departure Ordered	Can Remain in U.S.
All	1,633,770	666,218	41%	967,552	403,252	77,998	481,250	50%	50%
New York	252,224	82,728	33%	169,496	43,008	2,634	45,642	27%	73%
Los Angeles	181,147	48,219	27%	132,928	38,596	20,284	58,880	44%	56%
Miami	135,300	43,808	32%	91,492	52,285	5,215	57,500	63%	37%
San Francisco	126,679	55,771	44%	70,908	18,923	5,668	24,591	35%	65%
Orlando	56,049	22,693	40%	33,356	16,385	2,143	18,528	56%	44%
Baltimore	51,175	20,642	40%	30,533	12,745	1,492	14,237	47%	53%
Arlington	66,234	37,049	56%	29,185	10,084	1,675	11,759	40%	60%
Houston	46,385	19,226	41%	27,159	20,243	1,759	22,002	81%	19%
Boston	51,610	28,824	56%	22,786	6,813	2,143	8,956	39%	61%
Newark	60,170	37,517	62%	22,653	8,368	1,780	10,148	45%	55%
Chicago	46,664	27,042	58%	19,622	7,349	1,661	9,010	46%	54%
Seattle	26,512	10,720	40%	15,792	5,510	1,782	7,292	46%	54%
Philadelphia	30,208	14,696	49%	15,512	5,579	2,056	7,635	49%	51%
Atlanta	24,843	9,731	39%	15,112	8,308	2,410	10,718	71%	29%
San Diego	16,664	3,600	22%	13,064	5,812	869	6,681	51%	49%
Cleveland	20,400	7,748	38%	12,652	5,681	863	6,544	52%	48%
Memphis	21,260	9,771	46%	11,489	6,356	743	7,099	62%	38%
Dallas	25,095	13,777	55%	11,318	6,106	1,328	7,434	66%	34%
Miami - Krome	10,343	50	0%	10,293	7,470	1,534	9,004	87%	13%
Las Vegas	14,657	4,374	30%	10,283	4,160	1,259	5,419	53%	47%
Omaha	20,099	9,912	49%	10,187	4,097	1,963	6,060	59%	41%
Detroit	12,787	3,213	25%	9,574	5,013	1,065	6,078	63%	37%
San Antonio	18,877	9,328	49%	9,549	5,340	520	5,860	61%	39%
Phoenix	15,408	6,326	41%	9,082	2,004	1,163	3,167	35%	65%
Denver	16,946	8,014	47%	8,932	3,333	1,575	4,908	55%	45%
Bloomington	16,643	7,891	47%	8,752	3,909	1,058	4,967	57%	43%
Charlotte	15,776	8,236	52%	7,540	4,346	672	5,018	67%	33%
Portland	13,333	6,119	46%	7,214	1,920	973	2,893	40%	60%
Adelanto	7,238	35	0%	7,203	5,337	320	5,657	79%	21%
Hartford	11,940	4,864	41%	7,076	3,518	388	3,906	55%	45%
Elizabeth	6,771	26	0%	6,745	4,232	316	4,548	67%	33%
Kansas City	13,743	7,099	52%	6,644	3,266	1,125	4,391	66%	34%
Tacoma	6,347	32	1%	6,315	3,621	914	4,535	72%	28%
Los Angeles - North	13,016	6,783	52%	6,233	5,120	365	5,485	88%	12%
New York - NYV	15,420	9,246	60%	6,174	4,062	253	4,315	70%	30%
New Orleans	17,764	11,644	66%	6,120	3,339	424	3,763	61%	39%
West Valley	7,490	2,144	29%	5,346	3,096	637	3,733	70%	30%
Conroe	5,164	71	1%	5,093	3,961	461	4,422	87%	13%
Harlingen	6,794	1,753	26%	5,041	3,542	270	3,812	76%	24%
Eloy	5,001	90	2%	4,911	3,543	344	3,887	79%	21%
Los Fresnos	4,534	10	0%	4,524	3,506	160	3,666	81%	19%
Pearsall	3,781	22	1%	3,759	2,525	281	2,806	75%	25%
Lumpkin	3,688	59	2%	3,629	3,036	271	3,307	91%	9%
Honolulu	3,350	120	4%	3,230	877	123	1,000	31%	69%
Buffalo	4,016	812	20%	3,204	1,642	357	1,999	62%	38%
Imperial	3,249	323	10%	2,926	1,908	177	2,085	71%	29%
Oakdale	2,776	65	2%	2,711	2,087	323	2,410	89%	11%
Louisville	7,078	4,403	62%	2,675	1,185	271	1,456	54%	46%
Chaparral	2,621	93	4%	2,528	1,927	126	2,053	81%	19%
Jena	2,532	29	1%	2,503	1,894	396	2,290	91%	9%
Florence	2,484	31	1%	2,453	1,926	112	2,038	83%	17%
El Paso - EPD	2,417	17	1%	2,400	1,871	114	1,985	83%	17%
Aurora	2,360	22	1%	2,338	1,521	184	1,705	73%	27%
New York - NYB	19,653	17,436	89%	2,217	1,065	32	1,097	49%	51%
El Paso	4,561	2,366	52%	2,195	1,058	83	1,141	52%	48%
Tucson	2,528	356	14%	2,172	1,115	172	1,287	59%	41%
Atlanta - ATD	2,175	189	9%	1,986	1,573	178	1,751	88%	12%
Batavia	1,705	33	2%	1,672	1,290	35	1,325	79%	21%
Guaynabo	1,828	168	9%	1,660	614	263	877	53%	47%
Otay Mesa	1,588	9	1%	1,579	1,016	76	1,092	69%	31%
Van Nuys	17,291	15,786	91%	1,505	669	50	719	48%	52%
Houston - Gessner	9,005	7,755	86%	1,250	934	17	951	76%	24%
Hagatna	1,184	91	8%	1,093	501	59	560	51%	49%
Sacramento	3,669	2,609	71%	1,060	405	25	430	41%	59%
Fishkill	374	4	1%	370	357	0	357	96%	4%
Houston - Greenspoint	12,848	12,576	98%	272	126	1	127	47%	53%
Napanoch	246	3	1%	243	221	0	221	91%	9%
Saipan	44	11	25%	33	23	8	31	94%	6%
No Court Assigned	9	8	89%	1	0	0	0	0%	100%

Asylum Backlog and Wait Times by Immigration Court

The asylum backlog obviously reflects in significant part where asylum seekers claims have been filed. However, some Courts have greater resource constraints in handling their caseloads. The more substantial the relative shortage of available judges in those Court locations, the more the asylum backlog grows along with wait times for hearings.

The Denver Immigration Court currently has the longest wait times. On average, asylum seekers there wait 1,943 days from the date DHS initiates their case by issuing a Notice to Appear (NTA) to the next scheduled hearing. Average wait times are only slightly lower in the Arlington Immigration Court (1,934 days) and the New Orleans Immigration Court (1,930 days). The Courts in Portland, Omaha, Newark and Seattle all have average wait times above 1,800 days.

In contrast, a total of fifteen Immigration Courts - all hearing detained cases - had average wait times of less than 200 days. And at most just a handful of case were waiting. Each of their backlogs ranged from just 2 cases to 39 cases. Wait times for these Courts included those at Batavia, New York (74 days), Otay Mesa, California (83 days), Chaparral, New Mexico (87 days), Oakdale, Louisiana (102 days), Eloy, Arizona (103 days), Aurora, Colorado (106 days), Pearsall, Texas (108 days), Los Fresnos, Texas (119 days), Adelanto, California (121 days), Conroe, Texas (145 days), Napanoch, New York (148 days), Lumpkin, Georgia (159 days), Miami-Krome, Florida (164 days), Jena, Louisiana (174 days), and Elizabeth, New Jersey (184 days).

Average wait times tend to be higher for defensive asylum cases than for affirmative asylum cases. This may reflect when the asylum case started and how backlogged that Court was at this particular point in time. There is little solid empirical information on how scheduling practices may vary by Court, hearing location, or the judge. Relative wait times may also reflect other intangible factors, such as how aggressively the asylum seeker wants to expedite their case or the skills of the asylum seeker's attorney in navigating the Court's scheduling system.

In the New York City Immigration Court, for example, the average wait for affirmative cases is 1,695 days while for defensive cases it is 1,877 days. However, in a few Courts, wait times are higher for affirmative asylum cases. This is true, for example, in the Las Vegas Court. Here the average wait is slightly higher for affirmative cases (1,428 days) than for defensive cases (1,352 days). This is also true for the Phoenix Immigration Court where the average wait for affirmative asylum cases (1,476 days) is longer than for defensive cases (1,286 days), and at the San Antonio Court where there is an average wait of 2,121 days for affirmative cases and 1,399 days for defensive cases.

For a complete listing of the asylum backlog at each Immigration Court and average wait times see Table 7.

Table 7. Pending Asylum Cases and Wait Times For FY 2021 by Immigration Court and Case Type

Immigration Court	Pending Asylum Cases*			Average Days Waiting**
Immigration Court	Total	Affirmative	Defensive	Total	Affirmative	Defensive
All	667,229	196,994	470,235	1,621	1,489	1,676
Denver	8,018	950	7,068	1,943	1,664	1,980
Arlington	37,087	3,116	33,971	1,934	1,768	1,949
New Orleans	11,646	1,503	10,143	1,930	1,590	1,980
Portland	6,122	911	5,211	1,879	1,713	1,909
Omaha	9,917	1,577	8,340	1,874	1,523	1,940
Newark	37,579	19,721	17,858	1,852	1,697	2,023
Seattle	10,733	1,165	9,568	1,816	1,629	1,839
New York	82,875	39,535	43,340	1,790	1,695	1,877
Orlando	22,701	8,953	13,748	1,760	1,723	1,784
Baltimore	20,670	2,828	17,842	1,744	1,230	1,826
San Francisco	55,831	11,263	44,568	1,715	1,677	1,724
Los Angeles	48,457	18,258	30,199	1,682	1,510	1,786
Memphis	9,781	1,373	8,408	1,680	1,521	1,706
Houston	19,255	2,886	16,369	1,666	1,494	1,696
Dallas	13,786	2,939	10,847	1,665	1,461	1,720
Chicago	27,066	9,929	17,137	1,631	1,395	1,769
Van Nuys	15,809	4,437	11,372	1,617	1,374	1,712
Atlanta	9,763	3,475	6,288	1,563	1,495	1,600
Boston	28,869	7,286	21,583	1,545	1,493	1,563
San Antonio	9,330	1,570	7,760	1,520	2,121	1,399
Kansas City	7,106	1,063	6,043	1,504	998	1,593
Houston - Greenspoint	12,593	1,369	11,224	1,502	1,559	1,495
Detroit	3,225	1,073	2,152	1,468	1,188	1,607
Bloomington	7,904	1,603	6,301	1,460	1,022	1,572
Louisville	4,403	411	3,992	1,437	1,178	1,464
Houston - Gessner	7,764	851	6,913	1,410	1,581	1,389
Hartford	4,872	1,775	3,097	1,398	1,306	1,450
Las Vegas	4,386	863	3,523	1,367	1,428	1,352
Charlotte	8,240	1,403	6,837	1,361	1,051	1,425
Philadelphia	14,709	4,643	10,066	1,359	1,283	1,394
Imperial	325	52	273	1,352	703	1,472
New York - NYB	17,451	8,729	8,722	1,344	1,274	1,414
Phoenix	6,330	1,453	4,877	1,330	1,476	1,286
Cleveland	7,757	2,417	5,340	1,329	1,053	1,452
Miami	43,890	15,823	28,067	1,323	1,232	1,374
Saipan	11	0	11	1,321	-	1,321
Atlanta - ATD	189	9	180	1,185	469	1,221
El Paso	2,366	198	2,168	1,091	1,053	1,095
Harlingen	1,753	194	1,559	1,080	1,269	1,043
San Diego	3,606	785	2,821	1,043	936	1,075
El Paso - EPD	18	0	18	909	-	909
New York - NYV	9,251	5,231	4,020	880	854	914
Los Angeles - North	6,782	1,641	5,141	873	599	962
Guaynabo	168	129	39	843	823	907
West Valley	2,150	589	1,561	832	849	825
Florence	31	0	31	724	-	724
Buffalo	817	136	681	681	769	663
Sacramento	2,610	679	1,931	673	607	696
Tucson	356	79	277	669	655	673
Honolulu	120	49	71	566	560	571
Hagatna	91	59	32	433	324	633
Fishkill	4	2	2	355	427	284
Tacoma	32	0	32	252	-	252
Elizabeth	25	0	25	184	-	184
Jena	29	0	29	174	-	174
Miami - Krome	49	1	48	164	36	167
Lumpkin	59	1	58	159	3,191	101
Napanoch	3	1	2	148	91	177
Conroe	70	0	70	145	-	145
Adelanto	34	1	33	121	72	122
Los Fresnos	10	0	10	119	-	119
Pearsall	22	0	22	108	-	108
Aurora	22	0	22	106	-	106
Eloy	90	1	89	103	102	103
Oakdale	66	0	66	102	-	102
Chaparral	93	0	93	87	-	87
Otay Mesa	9	0	9	83	-	83
Batavia	33	0	33	74	-	74
Not Assigned to Court	10	6	4	-	-	-

* See TRAC's previous two-part series on asylum decisions for an explanation of affirmative vs defensive asylum cases.
** Average Days Wait from DHS Notice to Appear (NTA) initiating the deportation proceeding until next scheduled hearing. For cases where no scheduled hearing exists, average days assumes hearings for these cases are placed at the end of the hearing location's current schedule.

Find Out More on Asylum Filings, Decisions, and the Asylum Backlog

This report was based upon the information found in two new TRAC web-query tools. These free user tools allow the public to drill into these findings in greater detail by state, hearing location, representation and custody status, and much more. Gender, age, language, as well as nationality are now also available.

The first new tool tracks the receipt of asylum applications in Immigration Courts since October 2000.[12] This tool monitors these cases over time by the date the asylum application was filed, and reports on outcome for those asylum seekers whose cases have subsequently been completed. Since not all asylum decisions are closed on their merits with an up or down definitive decision on the asylum claim, the tool includes other types of outcomes where the asylum seeker was judged to be legally permitted to remain in the U.S versus ordered deported.

The second new user tool monitors in greater detail the growing asylum case backlog which comprises a substantial and growing proportion of the Court's overall case backlog. It also provides details on how long these cases have already been waiting, as well as how much longer the average wait will be before the next scheduled hearing.

TRAC's asylum decision tool, has also been recently expanded to add demographic data on age and gender. Language in addition to nationality have been added to the menu choices for users.

^[1] There may be more than one Master Calendar hearing needed for a case. Hearings can be continued to a later date for a variety of reasons, including: to allow time to find an attorney or to prepare the case, because the Court itself cancelled and rescheduled a hearing, or many other reasons. For those waiting for a Master Calendar hearing just over half of affirmative asylum cases were unrepresented (52%), that is, no attorney had entered their appearance with the Court to represent them. For defensive asylum cases, about a quarter (22%) were similarly unrepresented at this point.

^[2] For a discussion of affirmative versus defensive asylum cases see TRAC's two-part series on asylum decisions here and here.

^[3] TRAC has long chronicled the rise in the overall Immigration Court backlog. See for example "Immigration Backlog Still Rising Despite New Judge Investitures" published in 2016, "Despite Hiring, Immigration Court Backlog and Wait Times Climb" and "Immigration Court Filings Take Nose Dive, While Court Backlog Increases" published in 2017, "Immigration Court Backlog Jumps While Case Processing Slows" and "Immigration Court Backlog Surpasses One Million Cases" published in 2018, "Crushing Immigration Judge Caseloads and Lengthening Hearing Wait Times" published in 2019, and "Trump Leaves Biden 1.3 Million Case Backlog in Immigration Courts." This report is the first empirical study documenting the role of asylum cases in the rise of this backlog.

^[4] Exclusion orders and deportation orders were used under older immigration statutes.

^[5] Many adult asylum seekers and families may file an asylum application, but be awarded other forms of relief such as withholding of removal, or relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). Unaccompanied children (UAC) seeking asylum, except those from Mexico or Canada, while counted in the overall Court backlog don't appear as part of the Court's asylum backlog. This is because actual applications for asylum for these children are not initially filed with the Immigration Court, but with the USCIS. Since the asylum request was not decided by an Immigration Judge it does not get recorded in the Court's records as an asylum completion when the Court completes these cases.

^[6] See earlier footnote 2 for further information about affirmative asylum.

^[7] Combining data from two separate database systems reflecting actions by different agencies, each with their own idiosyncrasies in how and what is being counted, can never be an exact science. We have relied upon the work of the Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) within the Department of Homeland Security which is responsive for preparing the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics and reconciling these different agency database systems. The count for Asylum Officer grants is largely taken from a table prepared by OIS covering asylum grants by Asylum Officers. The same table contains asylum grants by Immigration Judges and the two columns of annual figures are added together for a total annual count for asylum grants year-by-year. This table has not been updated for FY 2020 or FY 2021, so TRAC estimated the Asylum Officer grants for these two years. TRAC relied upon the Court's case-by-case records for Court asylum case outcomes.

^[8] New York and Los Angeles have been split more recently into more than a single administrative Court located in the same city. See listing in Table 6. Court addresses are found here.

^[9] This does not include cases handled by the Broadway or Varick locations.

^[10] This does not include cases handled by the North Los Angeles locations.

^[11] This includes not just cases on which asylum was granted, but cases in which other relief was granted or the Immigration Judge determined that another basis applied which allowed the asylum seeker to remain in the U.S. and not be ordered deported.

^[12] Due to the length of time needed after the start of the case to file an asylum application, this tool underestimates the number of asylum seekers with pending cases since it misses those who have not yet filed their application.