5 Ways to Change the Asylum Process

ASAP is the largest collective of asylum seekers in U.S. history. When members join, we ask: “What is one thing you would change about the asylum process?” The results – integrating more than 100,000 insights – guide ASAP’s work to build a more welcoming United States. With these results in mind, ASAP members work to make their collective vision a reality – sharing their stories, launching advocacy campaigns, and filing lawsuits.

Scroll down to read the top 5 ways that the U.S. government should change the asylum process, according to 118,518 asylum seekers from more than 175 countries around the world.

1. The government should speed up processing times for work permits and asylum interviews.

  • “Currently there is a wait of years to be able to have our asylum interview. The waiting time and uncertainty causes me anguish and anxiety.” – ASAP member from Mexico

  • “I want to work and pay taxes, but because of USCIS delays I do not have that possibility.” – ASAP member from Ukraine

  • “I have been waiting a really long time. I see all these businesses needing employees, and I would like to work but I can’t.” – ASAP member from Uganda

2. Work permits and Social Security numbers should be easier to obtain.

  • “We all have children, and they depend on us for food, shelter, and other basic necessities. Without a work permit, we are unable to provide for them.” – ASAP member from Haiti

  • “Without a social security number that comes with a work permit, it is impossible to buy health insurance and receive medical treatment.” – ASAP member from Russia

3. The asylum process should be more accessible and transparent.

  • “The process is long and dragged out. It would be nice to get updates instead of being in the dark for so many years”. – ASAP member from Trinidad and Tobago

  • “I would like to be able to do everything online.” – ASAP member from Venezuela

  • “USCIS communicates with asylum applicants using language that is vague and hard to interpret. They should use simpler language so more people can understand what they need to do next.” – ASAP member from India

4. More people should be granted asylum, and it should be easier to get immigration status in the United States.

  • “The U.S. should be welcoming to asylum seekers running away from violence, not creating very hard rules and laws to prevent them from seeking asylum.” – ASAP member from Afghanistan

  • “It is painful when they don’t believe your word. People like me must defend ourselves and be able to win asylum before a judge.” – ASAP member from Cuba

  • “One asylum case is not more important than another. Our children deserve to have a life without fear.” – ASAP member from Colombia

5. Asylum seekers should be treated more humanely.

  • “The government needs to stop intimidating asylum seekers and other immigrants.” –  ASAP member from Brazil

  • “Black asylum seekers deserve fair and equal treatment.” – ASAP member from Cameroon

  • “I believe the asylum process should be done in a more humane way. Asylum seekers are not a number, we are human beings.” – ASAP member from Venezuela

How do these priorities guide ASAP’s work?

As a membership organization, we know that ASAP’s members are the experts on the biggest problems with the asylum process, and how to fix them. For this reason, ASAP’s current advocacy work is focused on addressing our members’ top two priorities: alleviating backlogs and making it easier for asylum seekers to receive their work permits. 

We believe our members are our strength. So, when members tell us what they care about, we listen. In the words of one ASAP member from Mexico, “Never stop fighting! Remember that together, we accomplish a lot.”

How did ASAP determine these top 5 priorities?

ASAP arrived at this list of priorities as follows: first, we read a sample of 1,000 member responses to identify the 12 most common priorities. Since then, we have read each member’s response, connected the response to one or more of the 12 more common priorities, and tallied the results to determine the top 5. Other commonly raised priorities from ASAP members include reuniting families and reducing fees in the asylum process.

How have ASAP members’ priorities changed over time?

Since we first tallied the results in 2021, speeding up processing times for work permits and asylum interviews has remained members’ #1 priority by far, followed by making work permits easier to obtain.

However, over time, the third and fourth priorities have switched places. Members’ #3 priority was originally that more people should be granted immigration status. However, compared to ASAP’s first 150,000 members, ASAP’s next 450,000 members were more likely to write that the asylum process should be accessible, transparent, and easier for asylum seekers to navigate on their own. This has now become the #3 priority, and ASAP has increased our advocacy around accessibility and transparency in the asylum process as a result.

How are ASAP’s priorities different from other organizations

Many organizations and advocates in the immigrants’ rights movement have advanced universal representation as a top priority: the idea that every immigrant should have a lawyer. However, ASAP’s members have articulated a different vision: that the asylum process should be easy enough to navigate on their own. As one ASAP member from Colombia wrote: “We should be able to file each document required in the process without a lawyer.”

As a result, ASAP has not focused on advocating for universal representation models. Instead, we are focused on making the asylum process easier for our members to navigate on their own – for example, making application forms shorter and available online. 

This example is reflective of ASAP’s larger philosophy: when members tell us their priorities, we shift our work in response.