A form of discretionary protection, political asylum grants people refugee status if they have suffered past or fear future harm in their home countries. The harm must be based on one or more of a list of protected categories, including race, religion, nationality, political opinion, and sexual orientation. People who win asylum can usually stay in the country they have sought protection in permanently.
Asylum can be denied, though with limited exceptions, only if an individual fails to meet the burden of proof that their case meets the required legal standard (See In re A-M-, 23 I. & N. Dec. 737 (BIA 2005), in which the Ninth Circuit ruled that a claim based on a lack of proof of persecution did not meet the well-founded fear standard, or in Amanfi v. Gonzales, in which the Court ruled that homosexuality is a PSG for purposes of asylum). In addition, an individual can be denied asylum if they have previously been deported and reentered the United States without permission or if they are found to pose a threat to the community.
Asylum seekers face extreme challenges while pursuing their cases. Delays in the adjudication process can negatively impact their health, especially if key witnesses die or their country’s conditions change. Research indicates that when people migrate to Western societies, they bring with them a variety of attitudes and values that often affect how their host societies respond to them. Large-scale survey data suggest that sociotropic evaluations of migrants and their economic contributions, humanitarian concerns about the accuracy of claims, and a general reservation towards Muslims are important factors in public preferences for asylum seekers.
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