I’ve sat through enough depositions to know that a number without context is a trap. So here’s the number everyone’s quoting. Immigration judges denied 94% of asylum cases decided in June and granted 5.5%, the lowest rate in the records kept by Syracuse University’s TRAC data project. I think the asylum courts needed a reset, and they got one. But a reset built on firings and precedents lasts only as long as the people hold the pen. Congress should write the rules down.
Start with the baseline. TRAC reports the grant rate sat above 50% earlier in Joe Biden’s term and had slid to 32% by the time he left. The decline began before this administration. Measuring 32%, the fall to 5.5% is about 83%, and June is one month. TRAC does say the drop has generally accelerated.
