Swetha Sridharan, ‘The Difficulties of U.S. Asylum Claims Based on Sexual Orientation’, Migration Policy Institute, 2008

Abstract

Since 1998, the United States has processed an average of 46,000 asylum applications each year, according to estimates from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Winning asylum in this country, however, is not an easy task. On average, only 62 percent of these applications have been successful.

Asylum claims based on persecution related to a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) individual’s sexual orientation are particularly difficult to file, argue, and win — even with substantial evidence of persecution and ill-treatment.