Navigating Asylum Challenges with AI

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October 4, 2026
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Three years ago, asylum seekers had a 50% chance of winning protection when their cases went to court. Now, the likelihood has plummeted to 6%. A new rule, effective this summer, allows asylum officers to refer seekers directly to immigration court without prior interviews. This change aims to tighten standards and speed up deportations. Many legal experts view this as a near closure, making legal battles seem pointless.

In this challenging scenario for immigration, the value of legal representation is higher than ever before. Statistics show that immigrants assisted by lawyers are 4.7 times more likely to secure relief than those without legal help. Skilled attorneys can guide clients through asylum processes and explore other protection avenues that are often overlooked. As navigating the system becomes more difficult, legal knowledge can be the deciding factor between deportation and protection. However, over half of immigrants nationwide lack representation due to cost and access barriers.

In the vast expanses of rural America, the demand for immigration lawyers is especially pressing. While these areas host about 1.8 million immigrants, they represent only around 5% of the general population. Nonetheless, immigrants are vital in their communities, accounting for 28% of the rural agricultural labor force and 14% of rural surgeons and physicians. Yet, finding an immigration lawyer in small towns is challenging. Although rural regions comprise 20% of the U.S. population, just 2% of lawyers practicing across all fields are located there. Some regions, labeled “legal deserts,” have few lawyers available, with many taking on pro bono work besides their regular duties. Here, clients often can’t afford legal fees, and courthouses may be hours away.

AI holds potential to greatly influence these rural legal deserts. Crafting a typical asylum application requires about 50 to 75 hours of extensive research, case management, and document analysis over several months. AI can enhance capacity where staff numbers are low by reducing research time and automating tedious admin tasks. Although this effort is crucial for case success, each hour spent on these tasks is an hour not available for direct client interactions or addressing waiting cases.

During my time as a student in the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire, I spent three summers assisting a local immigration attorney at a nonprofit aiding survivors of gender violence. I witnessed how resource shortages forced attorneys to turn away viable cases. This led me to create AI research software tailored to help attorneys compile evidence for asylum cases, enabling them to handle more cases.

AI is rapidly integrating into the legal field. Numerous law firms and legal entities have adopted AI in their operations. According to Thomson Reuters, their AI for Justice initiative enabled legal nonprofits to produce urgent case materials 75% more swiftly. The Innocence Center reduced the time for preparing wrongful-conviction petitions from a year to six months. A University of California-Berkeley study found that 90% of legal aid lawyers with access to generative AI tools reported enhanced productivity, especially in research and documentation tasks prevalent in immigration caseloads.

While employing AI, it is crucial to acknowledge its limitations. There can be inaccuracies, such as fabricated statistics and sources. However, comprehensive tools can address such issues with audit logs and source verification. Human oversight remains a necessity. Ultimately, AI serves as an enhancement for attorneys, not a substitute.

Discussions on AI often emphasize job threats over its potential to bolster sectors that lack resources. In rural immigration law and elsewhere, efforts should focus on where AI can extend representation and services in under-resourced communities.

Ella Tesone, a high school student from Norwich, Vt., is the creator of Asyla LLC, a social venture offering AI-driven software for immigration lawyers.