Credible fear

Credible fear is a concept in United States asylum law whereby a person who demonstrates that he or she has a credible fear of returning to his or her home country cannot be subject to deportation from the United States until the person's asylum case is processed.

Historically, the deportation of a person not lawfully present in the United States required the approval of an Immigration Judge, unless it was based on an apprehension at the border itself. In November 2002, in order to speed up the process of deportation, the United States Department of Homeland Security expanded the scope of expedited removal to include those apprehended within 100 miles of the United States border and within 14 days of entry.

To address concerns that this might result in the deportation of people who might be eligible for asylum, the credible fear screening was introduced. According to the Congressional Research Service, "Consistent time series data on 'credible fear' claims" was only collected beginning in fiscal year 2005.

The legal framework governing credible fear is described in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 8 (Aliens and Nationality), 208.30 (8 CFR 208.30). According to the summary on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) website: "An individual will be found to have a credible fear of persecution if he or she establishes that there is a “significant possibility” that he or she could establish in a full hearing before an Immigration Judge that he or she has been persecuted or has a well-founded fear of persecution or harm on account of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion if returned to his or her country."

There are two kinds of credible fear recognized in United States law:

When a person enters the United States without authorization, United States Customs and Border Protection are, at initial contact, supposed to ask the person whether he or she has a credible fear of returning to his or her home country. If the person responds affirmatively, then the person cannot be immediately deported, but instead the person is referred to an asylum officer for a credible fear interview and issued a Form M-444 Information About Credible Fear Interview . If the person responds negatively, the person may be subject to expedited removal.

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