Under Trump, Bay Area immigration courts deny asylum claims at soaring rates
Under the Trump administration the Bay Area s two immigration courts are rejecting asylum asserts at double the rate as under the previous administration as federal bureaucrats fire immigration judges push to clear situation backlogs and vow deeper vetting of asylum seekers From President Donald Trump s first full month returning to office in February through August federal immigration judges in San Francisco and Concord denied of the asylum cases they decided according to the latest details from University of Syracuse s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse a nonpartisan research center that collects and analyzes immigration court records During the previous seven months when Joe Biden was president the courts rejected of cases Immigration experts attribute the sharp rise to new restrictions on asylum eligibility imposed by the Trump administration as part of its sweeping immigration crackdown They also cite administration pressure on courts to process more asylum cases to reduce a massive backlog even as federal bureaucrats summarily fired dozens of immigration judges nationwide The changes have created a sense of hopelessness among applicants mentioned Milli Atkinson director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Scheme at the San Francisco Bar Association But more than that there s a sense of fear Asylum provides refuge and a pathway to permanent residency to those fleeing persecution in their home countries because of their race religion nationality political opinion or membership in particular social groups As justification for Trump s immigration crackdown administration functionaries accused Biden of risking masses safety by allowing a flood of expatriates to abuse the U S asylum system Now the administration says it wants to pause the asylum process In response to the deadly shooting of two National Guard members in Washington D C by an Afghan man who had been granted asylum federal executives have pledged to thoroughly vet all asylum applications However immigration advocates say asylum seekers are already subject to rigorous background checks We are going to go through every single person that has a pending asylum claim or has an asylum claim here in this country Homeland Protection Secretary Kristi Noem reported NBC News on Nov Still it s unclear what that could mean for area immigration courts where people ask for asylum as a defense against deportation On Tuesday the U S Citizenship and Immigration Services issued a memo suspending a separate process for those seeking asylum without a pending deportation affair In that process newcomers can appeal to an immigration judge if their applications are denied In San Francisco immigration court has continued operating as normal according to Atkinson The U S Justice Department which oversees immigration courts did not answer questions about how proceedings could be impacted In latest months however the Trump administration has fired about immigration judges nationwide seemingly without cause according to the National Association of Immigration Judges In the Bay Area at least judges have been dismissed in San Francisco and three in Concord San Francisco now has just nine judges while Concord has seven Jeremiah Johnson was one of five San Francisco immigration judges fired on the same day in November Johnson who was appointed as a judge during the first Trump administration explained that before being dismissed he had been working weekends and logging long hours on the bench to handle an increased caseload foisted upon him by court management Despite what he described as soft pressure to resolve cases he stated his priority remained ensuring that asylum seekers received a full and fair hearing No reason was provided to any of the judges who have been fired Johnson reported I suspect it was because we were doing our job Former immigration judge Jeremiah Johnson looks on from his home in San Francisco Calif on Thursday Dec Johnson was among several immigration judges removed by the Trump Administration last month Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group To replace the fired judges across the country the Department of Justice has begun posting ads for new deportation judges This Department of Justice is restoring integrity to our immigration system and encourages talented legal professionals to join in our mission to protect national assurance and populace safety the department disclosed in a declaration Asylum indicates soared after Biden took office as newcomers fled violence and economic devastation in Central and South America Even as his administration added asylum restrictions last summer the surge led to a backlog of more than million asylum court cases at the end of last year In an effort to reduce the backlog the Trump administration issued a directive earlier this year instructing judges to reject incomplete asylum applications without a full hearing Advocates cite that directive along with stricter standards for justifying domestic violence and gang-related insists among other changes to which immigration judges must adhere making it more complex to secure asylum under the current administration Related Articles Brownstein The GOP s immigration curbs will threaten Social Measure H- B Federal regime to check applicants social media orders accounts set to constituents Supreme Court will decide whether Trump s birthright citizenship order violates the Constitution Viral video of Bay Area man dumping flower vendor s bouquets into creek sparks outrage Why Somali displaced persons may still aim for US despite passage restrictions But even as the denial rate has spiked in the Bay Area it remains lower than in largest part other parts of the country In August of claim decisions nationwide resulted in a denial up from the same month last year The total number of denials nationwide is up as well reaching more than a month earlier this year higher than at any point during all previous administrations dating back to at least President George W Bush according to the Syracuse information In the Bay Area monthly denials in San Francisco have also increased but remain below a third of the peak of during Trump s initial term The Concord court which opened only last year saw denials roughly triple to in August the the majority new figures available Atkinson the immigration attorney stated one reason for the differences is that asylum seekers in the Bay Area are more likely to have an attorney representing them in court But as immigration officers detain people with pending cases she revealed expatriates are increasingly giving up their proposes She gave an example of a mother who decided to forgo asylum instead of being separated from her young children A lot of people are giving up out of desperation she explained
