Asylum approvals plummet as fearful immigrants skip hearings

"Fewer than 3% of asylum cases decided in January were approved - a record low, according to Mobile Pathways, a San Francisco nonprofit that analyzes federal immigration data. That's compared with an 18% approval rate in January 2025. Nationally, 20% of immigrants seeking asylum missed their hearings in January, compared with half that rate a year earlier."

"In Los Angeles County immigration courts - among the largest in the country - the trend is substantially starker: no-shows made up 56% of the asylum hearings in January, compared with 14% a year earlier. 'That's not fluctuation,' said Bartlomiej Skorupa, chief operating officer of Mobile Pathways. 'That's collapse.'"

"As of December, nearly 3.4 million cases were pending in immigration courts, with more than 2.3 million of them asylum cases, according to TRAC, a data research organization. The rise in the number of people avoiding asylum hearings helps explain another trend in the immigration court system. Over the last year, the number of asylum cases marked 'abandoned' has doubled."

A year into the Trump administration's intensified mass deportation efforts, asylum approval rates have plummeted dramatically. In January, fewer than 3% of asylum cases were approved—a record low compared to 18% approval in January 2025. Nationally, 20% of immigrants missed their asylum hearings in January, double the rate from a year earlier. In Los Angeles County immigration courts, no-shows reached 56% of hearings compared to 14% previously. Nearly 3.4 million cases are pending in immigration courts, with over 2.3 million being asylum cases. The surge in missed hearings has caused abandoned case numbers to double, as asylum seekers fear deportation despite having legal status while applications are pending.

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