Courts in Houston reject almost 100% of asylum applications in the United States: what is the situation in other cities

Asylum seekers in Houston are least likely to win cases to legally remain in the United States, according to a new report from 62 immigration courts nationwide. Houston Chronicle.

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Despite Houston's reputation as a “hospitable city,” immigration judges rejected 89 to 100 percent of cases between fiscal 2016 and 2021, according to Syracuse University's analysis of more than 223 asylum decisions nationwide.

“When you get to Houston, everything is already decided,” said Syracuse University researcher Austin Kocher. “Virtually all judges reject 90 percent or more of cases.”

Houston-based immigration attorney Ruby Powers said asylum proceedings can be very tedious as it takes hours and face-to-face conversations with clients, while knowing that there is a high likelihood that you will be denied. Some lawyers even decide not to try asylum cases.

“I have a legal assistant who came to me from another firm and said, ‘I didn’t know you could win an asylum case,’ because he’d never seen a case like that won before,” she said.

The Syracuse University report also analyzed rejection rates in smaller courts in the Houston area, such as the Houston-Gessner and Conroe courts, where judges rejected up to 96 percent and 98 percent of asylum cases, respectively.

Results of consideration of cases on granting asylum by the Immigration Court (FY 2016-2021):

New York

Asylum decisions -34,986
Number of judges -51
Failure rate:

Lowest 5%. The highest is 95%.

Houston

Asylum decisions -14,476
Number of judges -19
Failure rate:

Lowest 89%. The highest is 100%.

Los Angeles

Asylum decisions -14,220
Number of judges -42
Failure rate:

Lowest 37%. The highest is 95%.

Chicago

Asylum decisions -5,395
Number of judges -16
Failure rate:

Lowest 17%. The highest is 91%.

Miami

Asylum decisions -15,371
Number of judges -29
Failure rate:

Lowest 73%. The highest is 99%.

Newark

Asylum decisions -2,654

Number of judges -12

Failure rate:

Lowest 17%. The highest is 93%.

Compared to the consistently high rejection rates in Houston, New York City judges have rejected between 5 and 95 percent of cases, according to an analysis of federal court filings, meaning that New York City asylum seekers are much more likely to win their case.

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Houston's immigration attorney Leslie Chiron Kirby takes this into account when meeting asylum seekers who may not plan to stay in Houston.

“Their final destination may be Los Angeles, New York or other places where the odds are higher,” she said. “If I see that a client may have a choice or another opportunity to go and apply elsewhere, I advise them to do so due to the high rate of denial here in Houston.”

Several factors contribute to differences in asylum refusal rates among courts, such as the country of origin of the asylum seeker. Country conditions play an important role in an asylum case, as clients must prove that they have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country.

Some groups that have had higher success rates start elsewhere. Chinese immigrants, who won 81 percent of their asylum cases in 2021, are much more likely to live and pursue a case in New York than in Houston. Meanwhile, according to the University of Syracuse, Hondurans win only 22 percent of the time and are more likely to live in Houston.

In fact, Central Americans from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are the largest groups of asylum seekers in Houston's immigration courts—and they also face one of the harshest denial rates.

But even asylum seekers arriving from the same country can face very different chances of winning their cases depending on the location of the trial.

Based solely on asylum decisions in Honduras over the past 20 years, New York courts have rejected 62 percent of cases, compared with 93 percent in Houston.

Ideological perspectives in immigration courts and judicial precedent set in various federal appeals courts also play a role, Powers said.

“The Ninth Circuit in California is much more supportive of asylum law,” said Powers, who has represented asylum seekers from at least 20 different countries. Federal appellate courts have the authority to rule on asylum decisions that have already been appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

Judges with low rejection rates are also more likely to be in courts located in traditionally democratic states, while in many cases, asylum in courts in states that normally vote for Republican presidential candidates is less likely.

Asylum cases are often considered years after the immigrant's entry into the country. Cases that were resolved in 2021 had an average of 2,5 years to be processed, according to data from the University of Syracuse.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York.

About 1,5 million cases are pending in immigration courts nationwide, including about 89 cases in the Houston district courts.
Along with low grant rates, the Trump-era policies that continued under President Joe Biden also created major obstacles to seeking asylum.

One of them, called Title 42, is a public health law used at the border to send people back to Mexico and block their ability to seek asylum.

Trump's "Stay in Mexico" policy, also known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), is also resuming after attempts by the Biden administration to put an end to it were blocked by legal proceedings in Texas and Missouri.

"This creates the 'perfect' conditions to take away the legal rights that exist under the asylum law," Chiron Kirby said. “This is so heartbreaking!” .

Half of all asylum cases were resolved by just six immigration courts

Asylum cases are unevenly distributed throughout the country. Nearly half of all asylum decisions (48%) made between fiscal 2016 and 2021 were made by immigration judges in just six immigration courts, including New York, San Francisco, Miami, Houston. Los Angeles and Baltimore.

Judges in New York alone made nearly 16 percent (or 34) of all asylum decisions, nearly double the number of San Francisco's next busiest immigration court, which ruled 986 asylum cases. The average number of cases resolved by all 18 immigration courts is 500.

Larger courts with more judges do not necessarily have a wider range of asylum denials. Of course, the courts of New York, San Francisco, and Baltimore, which are included in the list of the six largest courts in the country, each have a significant range of discrepancies among judges.

However, Houston and Miami, also among the six largest courts, have relatively smaller ranges despite the large number of immigration judges.

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