Millions of people around the world have been forced to flee their homes in search of a better life. They might have been driven out by a conflict, poverty, human rights abuses, gang violence or natural disaster. Often, they have a well-founded fear of persecution on their return home based on their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group or political opinion.
To win asylum, an applicant must show both past persecution and a well-founded fear of future persecution. Generally, a person will meet the past persecution requirement by proving that they were targeted or exposed to a serious harm in their home country on one of the five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, membership in an identified social group (PSG) or political opinion.
An application will usually fail to meet the future persecution requirement if a person was prosecuted for a crime under fairly administered and evenly applied law. However, criminal prosecution can be considered persecution if it is disproportionately severe or if the law violates international standards for human rights. For example, the Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that private consensual same-sex activity is not a crime in the United States, but could be in other countries.
An individual may also be barred from receiving asylum if they have committed a particularly serious non-political crime, have been deported and reentered the United States without permission or have persecuted others themselves. The Asylum Handbook contains a comprehensive list of these bars and it is important to understand them before filing an asylum claim.
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