Asylum and "Credible Fear" Issues in U.S. Immigration Policy

Table A-2. Number of Approved Defensive Asylum Cases for Top 20 Source Countries, FY2000-FY2009Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009China, People's Republic 2,500 2,677 3,113 3,601 3,419 3,014 4,061 4,540 3,419 3,418Colombia 186 396 1,019 1,590 1,473 1,151 779 683 531 356Albania 393 513 515 717 724 610 506 420 320 211Haiti 205 369 479 566 535 653 570 587 510 406India 514 506 494 595 452 311 450 357 272 260Ethiopia 235 218 232 239 260 266 344 349 311 409Russia 417 351 312 381 320 251 203 208 198 127Indonesia 157 181 283 366 427 375 314 210 195 155Armenia 85 203 323 412 305 268 289 179 141 196Egypt 218 194 228 277 268 194 240 231 182 173Iraq 82 188 280 197 115 94 191 276 408 364Cameroon 89 135 116 186 273 263 359 203 161 203Guinea 40 64 94 155 258 257 358 324 238 193Somalia 410 354 236 149 89 88 115 109 100 167Pakistan 178 155 180 227 164 140 178 140 142 99Iran 171 232 210 212 203 143 118 108 70 91Guatemala 187 140 113 162 177 140 160 134 163 155Mauritania 98 90 118 181 220 193 218 173 94 94Venezuela D 5 24 35 59 153 279 315 294 191Burma 81 124 126 118 138 166 163 129 125 108All other 2,990 2,906 2482 3,010 3,143 3,027 3,457 3,132 2,869 2,810Source: CRS presentation of data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Immigration Statistics.Notes: Data represent cases not individuals. “Top 20” is determined by the total number of approved asylum cases for the entire period.CRS-35