Study Finds Wide Disparity in Asylum Denial

WASHINGTON - Immigration judges vary sharply in their willingness to grant asylum to foreigners seeking to live in the United States - with denial rates ranging from 10 percent to more than 98 percent, according to researchers who reviewed federal figures.

A foreigner seeking asylum in the United States is far more likely to be rejected if the case is decided by Judge Mahlon Hanson in Miami than by some other judges in the system, according to the study being released Monday.

The study is based on data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a Justice Department agency which oversees immigration courts, for 1994-99 and 2000-05. The report was done by the …