Figure Q

There were over 54,000 total grants of asylum in 2023: Annual grants of affirmative and defensive asylum, and total grants of asylum, fiscal years 1990–2023

Year Affirmative asylum granted Defensive asylum granted Total (affirmative + defensive)
1990 5,670 2,800 8,470
1991 2,910 2,130 5,040
1992 4,120 2,180 6,310
1993 7,510 2,030 9,540
1994 11,780 2,050 13,830
1995 17,570 3,130 20,700
1996 18,620 4,910 23,530
1997 16,380 6,560 22,940
1998 13,220 7,290 20,510
1999 18,150 8,420 26,570
2000 23,280 9,240 32,510
2001 29,150 10,000 39,150
2002 25,960 10,980 36,940
2003 15,370 13,380 28,740
2004 14,350 13,020 27,380
2005 13,550 11,760 25,300
2006 13,050 13,300 26,350
2007 12,460 12,860 25,320
2008 12,130 10,890 23,020
2009 12,000 10,300 22,300
2010 11,260 8,520 19,780
2011 13,490 10,140 23,630
2012 16,870 10,580 27,450
2013 14,890 9,750 24,630
2014 14,420 8,610 23,040
2015 17,800 8,140 25,940
2016 11,610 8,700 20,310
2017 15,800 10,570 26,370
2018 24,490 13,200 37,690
2019 26,880 18,920 45,800
2020 16,100 14,610 30,710
2021 9,130 7,420 16,550
2022 13,170 22,550 35,720
2023 22,300 32,050 54,350
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Economic Policy Institute

Note: “Affirmative” represents affirmative grants of asylum by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. “Defensive” represents defensive grants of asylum by the Executive Office for Immigration Review in the U.S. Department of Justice.

Source: Office of Homeland Security Statistics, “Table 16. Individuals Granted Asylum Affirmatively or Defensively: Fiscal Years 1990 to 2023,” Yearbook 2023, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, Department of Homeland Security. See also Noah Schofield and Amanda Yap, Asylees: 2023, Office of Homeland Security Statistics, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, October 2024.

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