"As of September 2015, the Department of Homeland Security's US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has a backlog of 106,121 principal applicants, of which 64,254 have exceeded required time frames for adjudication," the report, issued on Wednesday, stated.
The number of asylum seekers in the United States has doubled in five years from 47,118 in fiscal year 2010 to 108,152 in fiscal year 2014, and the USCIS plans to hire additional staff to address the backlog, the GAO observed.
"Each year, tens of thousands of aliens in the United States apply for asylum, which provides refuge to those who have been persecuted or fear persecution on protected grounds," the report noted.
USCIS asylum officers and immigration judges in the Department of Justice adjudicate asylum applications in the United States.
