News

Federal lawmakers seek review of New England asylum cases

Federal lawmakers seek review of New England asylum cases

Photo: 560 WGAN Newsradio


BOSTON (AP) — Congressional leaders in New England are calling for a federal investigation into the low rate of approvals by the region’s asylum office.

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and seven other Democratic lawmakers from Massachusetts and Maine issued a letter Thursday seeking a formal review of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Boston asylum office, which processes claims for refugees in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine.

The lawmakers said their request to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General was prompted by “Lives in Limbo,” a March report by Maine immigrant advocacy groups that found the Boston office approved 15.5% of asylum applications between 2015 and 2020.

That’s the second lowest approval rate among the nation’s 10 asylum offices, after New York, and almost half the national average of 28% over the same period, according to the organizations, which included the University of Maine School of Law’s Refugee and Human Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.

The report found the Boston office’s approval rate dropped to 11% in 2021 even as the national average remained at 27%. The office had 20,400 pending asylum applications as of December 2021, according to the report.

“The report establishes that the Boston Asylum Office is an ‘outlier’ among the nation’s other asylum offices,” the congressional members wrote Thursday. “But that makes the consequences of its low asylum grant rate no less concerning.”

Spokespeople for USCIS and the Homeland Security inspector general’s office didn’t respond to emails seeking comment Tuesday.

The Maine organizations argued in their report that the Boston office is “dominated by a culture of suspicion and distrust toward asylum seekers.”

They said they found evidence of national origin and language bias, as non-English speakers and those hailing from African and the Middle Eastern nations were less likely to be granted asylum.

They also found the office’s overwhelming backlog of cases played a significant role in its low rate of approvals.

“These pressures create an intense work environment with time constraints, overwhelming caseloads, and high rates of burnout that incentivize referrals rather than granting asylum,” the organizations said in their report.

Markey and the other lawmakers say the inspector general’s office should launch an investigation to determine whether and why the approval rate is so low and to ensure that asylum seekers get a fair shot to have their cases heard.

USCIS asylum offices can either deny applicants outright or refer cases to federal immigration court, a lengthier process overseen by U.S. Department of Justice.

“Asylum seekers may ultimately have to wait years for their cases to be resolved,” the report from the Maine organization said. “During this time, they are separated from their family members abroad who often remain in danger.”

Latest Headlines

11 minutes ago in Local

Westbrook Police Seek Help To Locate Missing Woman

Fresh

She is known to frequent the Westbrook and Portland area.

1 hour ago in National, Trending

Trump uses government shutdown to dole out firings and punishment

Fresh

President Donald Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors, by threatening mass firings of workers and suggesting "irreversible" cuts to programs important to Democrats.

1 hour ago in National, Trending

Delta jets have a ‘low-speed collision’ on LaGuardia taxiway, injuring 1

Fresh

Two Delta Air Lines regional jets collided on the taxiway at LaGuardia Airport in New York, injuring a flight attendant, damaging a cockpit and tearing off part of a wing in what the airline described as a "low-speed collision."

1 hour ago in Lifestyle, Trending

Gatorade and Cheetos are among the Pepsi products getting a natural dye makeover

Fresh

PepsiCo, which also makes Doritos, Cap'n Crunch cereal, Funyuns and Mountain Dew, announced in April that it would accelerate a planned shift to using natural colors in its foods and beverages.

2 hours ago in Trending, World

Schwarzenegger downplays Trump and backs Vatican initiative to ‘terminate’ global warming

Fresh

Arnold Schwarzenegger downplayed the Trump administration's climate skepticism Tuesday and threw his weight behind the Vatican's environmental initiative, saying individual choice, local regulations and the Catholic Church's moral leadership were far more important to "terminate" global warming.