The "credible fear" provision of U.S. immigration law allows people who enter the U.S. without permission to stay if they "have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of persecution" because of their "race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion if returned" to their homelands. Courts have granted about 10% of asylum claims. However, the other 90% often never leave because deportation laws are rarely enforced. This was the explicit policy of Obama and is also true under Biden. At the end of 2022, 1.6 million asylum claimants were awaiting hearings, the largest on record and 16 times the number in 2012.