About 3,500 Nepalis have received deportation orders from U.S. immigration judges; under the Biden administration, this number has decreased.
A rise in “credible fear” denials coincided with the deportation orders issued to 12 Nepalis in October 2024. 52 of the 176 Nepali asylum cases examined in October were granted refuge, 31 were terminated, and 43 were denied for lack of a credible fear of persecution, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
In October, immigration courts declared that there was no credible fear in a large percentage of Nepali cases. Ten applicants did not have a “Notice to Appear” (NTA) filed during this time, whereas twenty-one instances satisfied the credible fear threshold. Two applicants were offered the chance to voluntarily leave the United States, while five applications were closed on other grounds.
Immigration courts rendered decisions in 1,441 cases involving Nepalis during the fiscal year 2024. Of them, 197 instances led to deportation orders, 346 cases were dismissed, and 606 cases received relief. Furthermore, 27 instances satisfied the credible fear criteria, 141 NTAs were not filed, 64 people were determined to have no credible fear, and 38 cases were dismissed for various reasons.
Twenty Nepali applicants were rejected for having credible fear in September 2024. Of the 137 cases that month, 10 NTAs were not filed, 50 were granted relief, 23 were canceled, and 20 were given deportation orders. There has been a recent increase in the number of credible fear denials for Nepalis, which was 28 in August, 7 in July, 4 in June and May, 1 in April, 3 in March, and 1 in February.
More than 15,365 cases involving Nepalis have been heard by U.S. immigration courts to date. Of these, 610 cases were allowed voluntary departure, 1,622 were terminated, 629 were closed for various reasons, 3,449 resulted in deportation orders, and 7,595 cases were approved for relief.
There was no genuine fear of persecution in 405 cases. Furthermore, 272 instances received prosecutorial discretion (PD), while 361 NTAs were not submitted.
Immigration judges issued deportation orders to more than 600 Nepalis under the Biden administration, but under the Trump administration, the number was close to 900.