The problem with that data is it doesn't take into account which country your trying to escape from. Mr Snowden was rejected by 20 of the 21 he applied for. He also didn't bring a million other loophole seekers with him when he finally was accepted. And notice he first had to be accepted before he could enter the country using asylum as the reason. Our country currently has no meaningful borders and can easily be overwhelmed by large numbers of people who simply demand asylum by force. Then once in, they demand to be supported by the tax payers to supply food and shelter. That's not the way asylum works, that's the way a corrupt administration works to attempt to change the voting demographic and increase the welfare state. And that's the next step, allow amnesty and special rights to vote and of course lockup your political opposition.
The data is by country. The question involved people seeking asylum in the US, not US citizens seeking asylum elsewhere like Snowden.
Because of the slowness of the asylum resolution process, applicants are left in limbo where they can't work legally to support. As of now, they are generally getting permits after 6 months. Speeding up the work permits would resolve the issue taxpayer support of asylum seekers.
In effect, the asylum system has become a back door immigration system, because the US economy needs more immigrants than the current system allows. Canada takes twice as many immigrants relative to the population as the US does. Increased legal immigration would solve many problems.
An important factor in drop in crime in the 1990's was the increase in immigration under Reagan and Bush. Impoverished, crime-ridden neighborhoods were flooded by recent immigrants who were working rather than committing crimes. I saw how abandoned building in the South Bronx were repaired or replaced. Neighborhoods that you couldn't go into because of crime became congested.
