Are nine out of 10 asylum claims fraudulent? 

There is no evidence that 90% of asylum claims are fraudulent. While estimates for the number of applications granted in recent years vary widely — from 20-50% — suspected fraud accounts for a small fraction of unsuccessful claims. According to immigration experts, legitimate claims are routinely unsuccessful for procedural reasons, such as not having a lawyer, rather than a lack of merit. 

A 2015 Government Accountability Office report found that between fiscal years 2010 and 2014, asylum claims terminated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services because of fraud fell from 103 to 34. For comparison, the agency granted more than 76,000 asylum claims during that time. 

USCIS and the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which handle asylum proceedings, both have units dedicated to detecting fraudulent claims.