Requests for asylum along US-Mexico border have doubled in 3 years

Requests for asylum along US-Mexico border have doubled in 3 years

Asylum requests along the south-western border of the United States have more than doubled, according to data released by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “Defensive” applications, also known as credible fear claims, numbered 14,610 as of the end of June. In the entire fiscal year of 2011, 6,824 such claims were made. Those numbers do not include “affirmative” asylum claims made by those already in the US sans permanent legal status. The bar is high for defensive applications – the DHS says about 91 percent of Mexican citizens seeking credible fear asylum are denied.