by Michael Niemann

According to U.S. Law, persons who seek protection while outside the U.S. are refugees. Persons who seek protection from inside the U.S. are asylum seekers. Finally, persons who have been granted asylum are called asylees.

To be granted asylum, a person has to be physically present inside the U.S. or at a designated port of arrival.

The first step is what is often called the ‘credible fear interview.’ The person must show that they have suffered persecution in the past or have a well-founded fear of persecution in their country of nationality or permanent residence on account of at least one of the categories mentioned in the Refugee Convention and the U.S. Refugee Act.

This initial interview is conducted at the designated border posts. If the officer conducting the interview accepts the credible fear, the person is given temporary admission to the U.S. pending a hearing before an immigration judge. For that time, the person is released into the country.

More often than not, the person in question has familial or extended familial connections and will live with either relatives or friends. This has been called “catch and release.” The terminology is questionable in that many, if not most asylum seekers present themselves to the immigration authorities. There is also a debate over how many asylum seekers appear for their court hearings. Some organizations, using data from 2018, claim that some 90% of asylum seekers appeared for their court hearing. President Trump claimed in 2018 that only 3% show up for their hearing.

We can assume that the real number lies between these extremes. Failure to appear for one’s hearing may not always be the result of asylum seekers’ faults. The immigration authorities make plenty of mistakes when it comes to locations, dates, and times of these hearings.