About asylum
Asylum is a form of legal protection granted to migrants who fear persecution in their home countries for one of the five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a social group. Asylum is a human right enshrined in international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but it’s not always easy for displaced people to access the protection they need.
The United States’ system of asylum has changed significantly since President Trump took office, with the administration restricting eligibility by limiting access to the country, placing limits on who can seek protection and tightening requirements on how they are processed. In 2024, the IRC documented that some 89 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide, including 27.1 million refugees, 53.2 million internally displaced within their country and more than 6 million asylum seekers around the world.
Amid rising numbers of displaced people, the United States has tightened asylum policy and created a backlog of cases. As a result, it has become more difficult for people to restart their lives, as they spend years in legal limbo.
Several other countries struggle to address rising asylum claims as well, with some imposing stricter rules for claiming asylum and adding layers of screening. In Canada, for example, the number of asylum applications skyrocketed in recent years, which led the government to amend a safe third country agreement with the US and to expand its authority to turn away some migrants at the border.