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Merely living in a place with lots of crime is not ground for asylum. First, a person cannot shiw eligibility for asylum where "the harm that Petitioner fears is not distinct from '[m]ere generalized lawlessness and violence," which "generally is not sufficient . . . to grant asylum . . . .'" Caamal-Rosales v. Garland (9th Cir 2022)(unpublished case). Moreover, the applicant must show that he was specifically targeted because of his race, religion, or membership in a particular social group.
Also, where persecution is by private parties, "the applicant must show that the government condoned the private violence 'or at least demonstrated a complete helplessness to protect the [applicant].'" Bertrand v. Garland, 36 F. 4th 627 (5th Cir 2022).
Unverified stories don't cut it. The burden of proof is on the applicant to prove all elements of an asylum claim. Which is why the grant rate has historically been low. See, eg, this article, complaining that recently "asylum officers have granted asylum in nearly 31 percent of the border cases that they heard to completion — or almost twice as often as immigration judges historically had."
The real issue is the enormous backlog in adjudicating cases. See here. Given that, it is a worthwhile gamble to come here and give asylum a shot. At least you will give your kids a better life for a while. If we increased funding for immigration courts, etc, the problem of dubious asylum claims would largely disappear.
Another idea is a treaty whereby asylum applicants are randomly assigned to a country to have their application heard and to be resettled in if approved, rather than the current system whereby the applicant basically picks his country.
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