The State Department has privately provided asylum officers with assessments portraying parts of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador as safer than several major U.S. cities, despite publicly warning Americans about violent crime in some of those same countries, according to internal documents reviewed by CNN.
The assessments compare crime rates in the four countries with those in Baltimore, Houston and Memphis. In Mexico and El Salvador, the documents claim that many areas have violent-crime rates at least ten times lower than those of major U.S. cities.
The reports could influence asylum decisions by helping officials determine whether applicants face persecution or could safely relocate within their home countries.
CNN highlighted a discrepancy involving Honduras, where the State Department warns American travelers about violent crime and terrorism, particularly in the Gracias a Dios region. Its internal assessments, however, describe crime rates there and elsewhere in Honduras as comparing favorably with those in certain American cities.
The documents also characterize Honduran police as generally willing and able to protect residents, while identifying limited vehicles, response times and rural access as obstacles.
Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, told CNN that the assessment understates police collusion with organized crime. He also questioned whether people threatened by criminal organizations could necessarily find safety elsewhere in their countries.
The State Department said the assessments were prepared by personnel with regional expertise to provide background information for immigration officials. Administration officials have maintained that travel advisories address risks to American visitors, which may differ from those facing local residents.
The reports emerge as asylum denials have been steadily increasing. According to Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, 94% of asylum cases were denied in June, compared with approximately 50% two years earlier.
The assessments are one of several recent immigration policy developments that could affect how people seeking protection in the United States have their cases evaluated. The administration has also shortened the time available for certain refugees to challenge the loss of their legal status, reducing the period from 30 days to 10 days.
At least 185,000 refugees admitted during the Biden administration are undergoing review while their permanent residency applications remain pending.
Questions about the time available to prepare immigration cases have also surfaced in proceedings involving children. A Truthout report earlier this week described a lawsuit filed by immigration advocates challenging accelerated asylum proceedings for unaccompanied minors, including policies allowing as little as one day's notice before interviews.
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