Asylum Outcome Increasingly Depends on Judge Assigned - TRAC

TRAC, Dec. 2, 2016- "The outcome for asylum seekers has become increasingly dependent upon the identity of the immigration judge assigned to hear their case. While judge-to-judge decision disparities have long existed, a detailed comparison of asylum decisions handed down by judges sitting on the same Immigration Court bench showed that differences in judge denial rates have significantly increased during the last six years. Nationally, the average decision disparity in asylum cases worsened by 27 percent.

The median level of asylum decision disparity that asylum seekers face is now over 56 percentage points. That is, the assignment of the judge for the typical asylum seeker could alter the odds of receiving asylum by this magnitude. For example, while the specific ranges differed by court, the typical asylum seeker might have only a 15 percent chance of being granted asylum all the way up to a 71 percent chance depending on the particular judge to whom their case is assigned.

... The recent spate of hiring of new immigration judges, when combined with the significant number of judges now leaving the bench, present a new opportunity to re-open the dialogue on how to achieve greater inter-judge agreement in immigration court decisions, including those granting or denying asylum.

However, the growing backlog of cases has increased pressures to expedite proceedings. Other administrative courts facing management pressure to quicken case processing have had the unintended consequence of actually increasing decision disparity. It would not be surprising if pressures on immigration judges to speed decision making, along with the reduced time available for training and discussion on the practical challenges in deciding asylum cases, may also have been a source of the increasing asylum decision disparities that has occurred^[6].

What is clear, is that the extreme level of disparity now present in asylum outcomes is inconsistent with our country's commitment to equal justice and the rule of law."