Attorneys at the McCrummen Immigration Law Group founded the Asylum Clinic KC in 2017 after identifying the vast unmet legal needs of asylum seekers in the Kansas City area. This trend is nationwide.
Between October 2015 and April 2016, Asylum Officers determined that nearly 50,000 migrants had a credible fear of returning to their home country. Seventy-eight percent of those migrants were from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala or Mexico, according to statistics from USCIS. Many of these migrants face dismal chances of attaining asylum, especially without an attorney to help them. Data shows that the overall asylum denial rate is at 57%, while unrepresented clients face denial 90% of the time. The number of denials for women with children is even higher. Despite a credible fear determination upon entry— only 1.5 percent of them were allowed to stay.
These vulnerable individuals are attempting to navigate a very complex legal system. The Asylum Clinic KC hopes to provide as many of these clients as possible pro bono or low bono legal representation to diminish the number of people who attempt to navigate this system unaided.