Facts and Figures from the INS for Fiscal Year 2002 What do the Numbers Say about the state of immigration in the U.S.?

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service released their annual report on statistics for the fiscal year 2002 in their Monthly Statistical Report for September 2002. The annual figures are in the areas of Inspection, Southwest Border Apprehensions, Immigration Benefits, Naturalization Benefits, Removals, Investigations and Asylum Given the uncertainty caused by September 11 and the sudden increased scrutiny on individuals’ immigration status, it is enlightening to review the numbers and see where the INS appears to be focusing their attention. Out of the all the statistics the sharpest increase in applications were for naturalization. In total, the number of naturalization applications filed increased by 40% from FY 2001. This sudden surge in the number of naturalization applications filed could be attributable to the after-effects of September 11, 2001. It appears many individuals may have decided to become U.S. citizens in order to secure their status in the U.S. as well as avail themselves of the full rights of a U.S. citizen.

With the increased scrutiny, the number of denials of immigration benefits was also up an appreciable amount in FY 2002 with a total increase of 34% in the number of denials. Interestingly enough, there were decreases or only small increases in areas where given the increased scrutiny, one might expect there to be sharp increases as the INS reacted to fears of terrorists entering the country. Specifically, there was a decrease in the number of Southwest border apprehensions of 25% in FY 2002, an 18% decrease in the number of removals, and only a small increase of 5% in the number of individuals found inadmissible by the INS in FY 2002. A full summary of the numbers follows below:

In FY 2002 the total number inspections, 444, 710, 152, decreased from 510, 583, 046 in FY 2001. This represents a 13% decrease in the number of inspections who were performed in FY 2002. The total number of individuals that were found inadmissible went up 5% from 700,807 in FY 2001 to 733,440 in FY 2002. These numbers include individuals that were referred to secondary inspections and who withdrew from applying for entry, individuals who were paroled in, individuals who were refused entry and individuals who were referred to an Immigration Judge for a removal hearing. Inadmissible numbers also include expedited cases such as where an alien could withdraw, received an expedited removal order or was referred for a credible fear interview.

Southwest border apprehensions by the U.S. Border Patrol decreased 25% in FY 2002 from 1,235,717 apprehensions in FY 2001 to 929,809 apprehensions in FY 2002. Voluntary returns were also down in FY 2002 in comparison to FY 2001. They were down 26% in FY 2002 from 1,191,047 in FY 2001 to 884,380 in FY 2002. Efforts were focused elsewhere.

Specifically, apprehensions of Central American individuals decreased 3% in FY 2002 from 22,515 in FY 2001 to 21,750 in FY 2002. Broken down by nationality, 2% of the Central Americans apprehended were Nicaraguan, 25% were Guatemalan, 31% were El Salvadoran, and the largest percent, 41%, were Honduran.

The total number of cases for immigration benefits receipted FY 2002 was 6,217,183, though this number does not include approximately 6,600 I-485s that were filed but for whom data had not yet been entered into the system. The number of immigration benefit cases receipted in for FY 2002 decreased by 15% from FY 2001 when a total of 7,333,338 were receipted in.

With regards to approvals of immigration benefits cases, approvals were only slightly down from 5,606,705 in FY 2001 to 5,605,962 in FY 2002. This is a less than 1% decrease in approvals for FY 2002. The number of petitions denied increased 34% in FY 2002 from FY 2001 with a total of 615,881 immigration benefit cases denied. At the end of FY 2002, there 4,332,221 immigration benefits pending. This number of pending cases also does not include approximately 6,600 I-485s that were filed but for whom data had not yet been entered into the system. The number of pending cases is an increase of 6% over FY 2001 where there were 4,083,052 cases pending at the end of the fiscal year.

In FY 2002, 700,649 cases were receipted in compared with 501,646 receipted in FY 2001. The FY 2002 number does not reflect an additional approximately 6,300 naturalization cases that were filed but for whom data had not yet been entered into the system. 589,810 naturalization applicants were approved and took the oath of citizenship in FY 2002, a decline of 4% from FY 2001’s total of 613,161. The number of naturalization cases denied dropped from 218,326 denials in FY 2001 to 139,779 denials in FY 2002. This was a 36% decrease in the number of naturalization case denials in FY 2002. At the end of FY 2002, there were 623,304 naturalization cases pending, though these number does not reflect an additional approximately 6,300 naturalization cases that were filed but for whom data had not yet been entered into the system. This was an increase of 1% from the end of FY 2001 when there were 618,750 naturalization cases pending with the INS.

The total number of removals for FY 2002 dropped 18% from FY 2001 to a total of 145,940 individuals being removed. Of those 145,940 removals, 69,580 were criminal removals which was a decrease of 3% from the number of criminal removals in FY 2001. With regards to non-criminal removals, these dropped 28% from FY 2001’s total of 105,445 to a total of 76,360 removals in FY 2002. In particular, expedited removals went down 52% in FY 2002 while other types of removals increased 4% in FY 2002.

The percentage of individuals found deportable and inadmissible also dropped in FY 2002 in comparison to FY 2001. In FY 2002, 44,824 individuals were found deportable which is down from 46,038 in FY 2001. In FY 2002, 101,116 individuals were found inadmissible which is down from 131,278 in FY 2001.

Investigations statistics include the areas of criminal alien category, employer cases, fraud and smuggling cases.

In FY 2002, the number of criminal cases that were successfully completed decreased by 2%. Criminal cases covers individual aliens convicted of a crime and large scale organizations involved in illegal activity. With regards to employer cases, successful completion of cases was up to 1,113, a 35% increase from FY 2001’s total of 823. Employer cases were investigations such as investigations of employers who knowingly hire or continue to employ illegal aliens. For fraud cases, the successful completion rate of cases decreased by 43% from FY 2001 to 1,050 successful completions. Fraud cases covers instances such as entitlement fraud, marriage fraud, employer sanctions document fraud and immigration benefit fraud. In FY 2002, the successful completion of smuggling cases decreased by 25% from FY 2001. Smuggling cases covered investigations of individuals or entities who bring, harbor, transport or smuggle illegal aliens into and within the United States.

The number of asylum cases filed in FY 2002 increased by less than 1% from 66,356 in FY 2001 to 66,577 in FY 2002. The number of asylum cases approved in FY 2002 dropped 5% from FY 2001 and the number of asylum cases denied in FY 2002 increased by 21%. Asylum cases that were not denied or approved but otherwise closed increased by 43% over FY 2001 to a total of 35,527. The number of asylum cases that were referred to an Immigration Judge increased in FY 2002 by 30% to 18,529. At the end of FY 2002, there were a total of 303,828 asylum cases still pending with the INS which was a drop of 6% from the number that were pending at the end of FY 2001. Of these pending asylum cases, approximately 86% of these cases are cases that may fall under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997 or the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998. The number of asylum cases still pending at the end of FY 2002 that do not fall under these two acts was around 41,400 cases.

Return to GT Immigration Observer Table of Contents