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. Nationally, 20% of immigrants seeking asylum missed their hearings in January, compared with half that rate a year earlier. 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. of Immigration Judges, said decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals throughout the last several months have limited asylum law.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 03, 2026 20:02 UTC