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Asylum Grant Rates Following Medical Evaluations of Maltreatment among Political Asylum Applicants in the United States

Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health volume 10, pages 7–15 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Although many individuals applying for political asylum allege maltreatment and sometimes torture in their countries of origin, the utility of medical evaluations in asylum adjudication has not been documented. This study compares the asylum grant rate among US asylum seekers who received medical evaluations from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), with rates among asylum seekers who did not receive PHR evaluations. Retrospective analysis was carried out on all asylum cases referred to PHR between 2000 and 2004 for medical evaluations for which adjudication outcome was available. Basic demographic information was obtained: age, sex, country of origin, English language ability, US region where adjudication occurred, whether legal representation was pro bono, type of evaluation, provision of oral court testimony, and whether asylum seekers were in detention. Cases were analyzed descriptively and with chi square tests. Between 2000 and 2004, 1663 asylum seekers received medical evaluations from PHR; the adjudication status (either granted or denied) was determined in 746 cases at the time of the study. Of these cases, 89% were granted asylum, compared to the national average of 37.5% among US asylum seekers who did not receive PHR evaluations. Medical evaluations may be critical in the adjudications of asylum cases when maltreatment is alleged.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Barbara Ayotte, Alicia Yamin, Susannah Sirkin, Gina Cummings and Paul Rocklin, all of Physicians for Human Rights, and Karen Musalo of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, for their thoughtful contributions to earlier versions of this manuscript.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, 401 Parnassus Ave, Box 0984-F, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA

    Stuart L. Lustig

  2. Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Sarah Kureshi

  3. Mayo Medical School, Rochester, MN, USA

    Sarah Kureshi

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Kevin L. Delucchi

  5. Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Vincent Iacopino

  6. Physicians for Human Rights, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Samantha C. Morse

Authors
  1. Stuart L. Lustig
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  2. Sarah Kureshi
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  3. Kevin L. Delucchi
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  4. Vincent Iacopino
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  5. Samantha C. Morse
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Correspondence to Stuart L. Lustig.

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Lustig, S.L., Kureshi, S., Delucchi, K.L. et al. Asylum Grant Rates Following Medical Evaluations of Maltreatment among Political Asylum Applicants in the United States. J Immigrant Minority Health 10, 7–15 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-007-9056-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-007-9056-8

Keywords

  • Political asylum
  • Refugee health
  • Maltreatment
  • Immigration policy
  • Global health