WASHINGTON: The rate at which asylum seekers are winning protection in the United States has fallen to its lowest level in at least a decade, according to immigration court data, as the Trump administration’s tougher enforcement policies reshape the country’s asylum system.
Data from the US Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) show that immigration judges decided more than 150,500 asylum cases during the first half of fiscal year 2026 but approved only 5,086 applications.
Asylum grants accounted for just 3.4 per cent of all possible case outcomes. When only cases resulting in either approval or denial of asylum are counted, the approval rate stood at 8.8pc
The decline represents a sharp reversal from previous years. The asylum approval rate was 24.4pc in fiscal year 2025, 45.7pc in fiscal year 2024 and 48.1pc in fiscal year 2023.
Only 3.4pc of applications approved, compared to 24.4pc in 2025
