Even though immigration policy tends to focus on the U.S.-Mexico border asylum, it may come as a surprise that one of the most difficult places to obtain asylum is at the Cleveland immigration court in Ohio, far from the Southern border. Most people don’t think of immigration and Ohio in the same sentence. But as an Ohio native myself who spent years studying immigration in my home state, I have seen first-hand how immigrants have become important to the social life and economy of Ohio. Alongside a growth in immigration, however, there has also been a growth in the number of people who are facing deportation. These new findings about the high rates of asylum denial at the Cleveland immigration court, as well as the additional data from our research below, provide insight into how national immigration policy plays out at the state and local levels.
As an Ohioan currently studying immigration law (via the VIISTA program), I sincerely appreciate these stats. My biggest question is why is it so difficult to obtain legal representation in Ohio for asylum seekers? I want to help out as an accredited representative, but I'm not finding opportunities in my area (Toledo) to do so. There's got to be a lot more going on beneath the surface for these horrible denial rates to make sense.
The representation rate in Ohio is pretty high for asylum seekers, though not quite so high for non-asylum cases. Based on my own research in Ohio, I concluded that (in part) it has to do with a relatively underdeveloped legal defense infrastructure in the state because immigration is not such a hot-button issue there (or rather, not *imagined* to be such a hot-button issue there). Great programs like Avanza in Columbus and Catholic Charities in Cleveland help to fill in these gaps -- as will YOU when you finish the program!!
Hi, Nina, thanks for the comment. The outcome of asylum cases depends on a variety of factors and judges do have considerable individual discretion. For those reasons, there has not been any formal attempts to demand that courts with high or low numbers to formally justify their asylum denial/grant rates. However, reporters and researchers like myself have done additional empirical research to attempt to at least understand some of the local factors. Generally speaking, denial rates have gone up across the country in recent years, but understanding more about why Cleveland specifically has a high denial rate would likely require additional conversations with immigration attorneys about what they are seeing. I hope that helps.
As an Ohioan currently studying immigration law (via the VIISTA program), I sincerely appreciate these stats. My biggest question is why is it so difficult to obtain legal representation in Ohio for asylum seekers? I want to help out as an accredited representative, but I'm not finding opportunities in my area (Toledo) to do so. There's got to be a lot more going on beneath the surface for these horrible denial rates to make sense.
The representation rate in Ohio is pretty high for asylum seekers, though not quite so high for non-asylum cases. Based on my own research in Ohio, I concluded that (in part) it has to do with a relatively underdeveloped legal defense infrastructure in the state because immigration is not such a hot-button issue there (or rather, not *imagined* to be such a hot-button issue there). Great programs like Avanza in Columbus and Catholic Charities in Cleveland help to fill in these gaps -- as will YOU when you finish the program!!
Austin, are there avenues through which to formally investigate the Cleveland court? Whereby they would have to justify these numbers?
Hi, Nina, thanks for the comment. The outcome of asylum cases depends on a variety of factors and judges do have considerable individual discretion. For those reasons, there has not been any formal attempts to demand that courts with high or low numbers to formally justify their asylum denial/grant rates. However, reporters and researchers like myself have done additional empirical research to attempt to at least understand some of the local factors. Generally speaking, denial rates have gone up across the country in recent years, but understanding more about why Cleveland specifically has a high denial rate would likely require additional conversations with immigration attorneys about what they are seeing. I hope that helps.