United States asylum denials reach record high amid increased enforcement

Asylum denial rates in the United States reached a record high in June, with only 5.5% of cases being approved, according to a report by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University. The report indicates that 94% of asylum requests were denied during that month. While the number of resolved cases has increased due to the hiring of hundreds of new immigration judges, the approval rate has dropped significantly compared to March 2023, when 48% of applications were approved.

In a separate incident in Tacoma, Washington, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained 66-year-old Colombian migrant Zolio Viloria. Despite possessing a work permit and having a pending asylum claim, Viloria was arrested in a parking lot. His family reported that he had entered the U.S. in 2018 following death threats in Colombia. Following his arrest, Viloria was transferred to a detention center in El Paso, Texas, where his family alleges he was subjected to mistreatment during transport.