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The number of asylum seekers awaiting hearings before judges in federal immigration courts has grown – from 100,000 cases at the end of the 2012 fiscal year to more than 787,000 last year. These are individuals applying for what’s known as defensive asylum, meaning they will be removed from the country unless they apply. People who arrive at the southern border fit this category.
Another 778,084 asylum seekers are waiting for hearings before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum officers within the Department of Homeland Security, according to federal data analyzed by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. These affirmative asylum cases involve individuals who have come to the U.S., legally or illegally, and apply because they fear returning to their home countries.
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