Asylum Denials Hit 94 Percent as State Dept. Compares Crime to US Cities
(MENAFN) Internal State Department assessments given to US asylum officers suggest violent crime in Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador is no worse than in some American cities, even as the department publicly cautions Americans about security risks in parts of those same countries, a national cable news network reported Wednesday.
The documents measure crime in the four Latin American nations against cities such as Baltimore, Houston and Memphis. According to the network, they also give less weight to human rights abuses, kidnappings and extortion than earlier assessments did.
The stakes are high for applicants. Asylum seekers must demonstrate that they face persecution in their home countries, and these assessments can shape whether they qualify for protection and relocation.
Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, said the documents play down the threat from criminal groups and weak local institutions. He called that a major departure from past evaluations, even though conditions on the ground have changed little.
The assessments also state that police in Honduras are generally willing and able to respond to calls for help. Selee said they ignore alleged ties between police and organized crime, as well as the dangers of relocating within these countries.
The State Department said regional experts wrote and reviewed the reports to help US immigration authorities weigh asylum claims.
The assessments surfaced while the department’s annual human rights report remains delayed, leaving officers to rely on alternative sources for conditions in applicants’ home countries.
Asylum denials climbed to 94% of cases in June, up from roughly 50% two years earlier, according to data from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, as cited by the network.
Officials in the administration of President Trump have said travel warnings are meant to inform US citizens of risks abroad and do not necessarily reflect the danger faced by people living in those countries.
The documents measure crime in the four Latin American nations against cities such as Baltimore, Houston and Memphis. According to the network, they also give less weight to human rights abuses, kidnappings and extortion than earlier assessments did.
The stakes are high for applicants. Asylum seekers must demonstrate that they face persecution in their home countries, and these assessments can shape whether they qualify for protection and relocation.
Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, said the documents play down the threat from criminal groups and weak local institutions. He called that a major departure from past evaluations, even though conditions on the ground have changed little.
The assessments also state that police in Honduras are generally willing and able to respond to calls for help. Selee said they ignore alleged ties between police and organized crime, as well as the dangers of relocating within these countries.
The State Department said regional experts wrote and reviewed the reports to help US immigration authorities weigh asylum claims.
The assessments surfaced while the department’s annual human rights report remains delayed, leaving officers to rely on alternative sources for conditions in applicants’ home countries.
Asylum denials climbed to 94% of cases in June, up from roughly 50% two years earlier, according to data from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, as cited by the network.
Officials in the administration of President Trump have said travel warnings are meant to inform US citizens of risks abroad and do not necessarily reflect the danger faced by people living in those countries.
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