Lawmakers Call For Probe Of Boston Asylum Cases

BOSTON — Eight New England Congressional leaders issued a letter Thursday to the Department of Homeland Security asking for a formal review of the region's low approval rate for asylum applications.

Massachusetts Senators Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren were among the signers of the letter.

A report published in March found the Boston Asylum Office, which processes claims for Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine refugees, approved just 15.5 percent of applications for asylum between 2015 and 2020. The average approval rate nationally over the same period was 28 percent.

Titled "Lives in Limbo: How the Boston Asylum Office Fails Asylum Seekers," the report was a joint effort between the Refugee and Human Rights Clinic at the University of Maine School of Law, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine and other immigrant advocacy groups.

"The report establishes that the Boston Asylum Office is an 'outlier' among the nation's other asylum offices," the letter states. "But that makes the consequences of its low asylum grant rate no less concerning."

The Boston Asylum Office's rate is the second lowest among the ten asylum offices across the U.S., according to the report. Only the New York office has a lower rate.

The letter calls on the Inspector General at the Department of Homeland Security to investigate why the Boston office's grant rate is so low and take steps to make sure the rights of asylum seekers and refugees are protected.