During the hearing, Jankun further restricted Jallow's case, cutting off her testimony about the abuses faced by her father. At the close of testimony, Jankun denied her application for asylum and ordered her returned to Gambia. They used to be part of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, colleagues of the INS lawyers who contested the cases they were hearing. In an effort to make the judges more independent, in 1983 a new sub-agency was created within the Justice Department, the Executive Office of Immigration Review. Immigration judges wield awesome power over people who often face the court under difficult circumstances.
Many asylum seekers have no documents or other evidence to prove their stories of terror.
Language and cultural barriers are common. And as many as half of all asylum seekers have no lawyers to assist them, according to the Justice Department. The judges also have cause for skepticism, knowing that many foreign citizens desperate to escape poverty or to reunite their families may invent false asylum claims as a way to win a new life in the United States. Applicants can appeal a judge's denial to an appellate administrative board that has the power to consider the case anew. The board reverses or sends back for rehearing, about 20 percent of the cases it reviews.