A person seeking political asylum must prove past persecution or a well-founded fear of future harm, and each case is reviewed individually. This often involves a combination of personal affidavits, witness testimony, country conditions reports that detail human rights abuses, medical records, and other documentation that supports the claim. For example, a person seeking political asylum might argue that they are being persecuted for their activism or participation in anti-government protests. A person claiming religious persecution might provide documentation of violence and threats against members of their particular religion. An individual claiming gender persecution might show that government officials have failed to protect them from traditional practices such as female genital cutting.
Serious harm is a key component of a political asylum claim, and it includes imprisonment, torture, serious physical or psychological abuse, death threats, or sexual assault. To qualify, the persecution must be connected to one of five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a social group. This last category is the broadest and encompasses anyone who is being harmed for their beliefs or their role in an opposition movement, such as a doctor who treats members of Kurdish rebel groups.
Many people seek asylum from areas of the world that are suffering from war, extreme poverty, gang activity, and natural disasters. While the Trump administration has vowed to improve processing times for asylum applications, the backlog remains large. Reform advocates have proposed hiring more asylum officers and immigration judges, ensuring a six-month timeline, and referring credible-fear cases to the Asylum Division rather than clogged immigration courts.
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