"The Mercy Factory is the first book to examine the asylum system. It does so by telling the stories of five refugees, following them from their experience of persecution in their home countries to their arrival in the United States and their progress through the barriers of the American immigration legal system.

Christopher Einolf's stories are both tragic and inspiring, but they also illuminate the workings of the asylum system and the dilemmas often faced by immigration officials and judges who must make life-or-death decisions in limited time, with limited information at hand.".

"Somehow the mass-production methods of the system manage to deliver individual attention and assistance - a "factory" that should not function well but does. Mr. Einolf shows how government, nonprofit organizations, church members, and volunteers work hard to make the system effective.

But he is also wary of changes in the public mood that may put the asylum system at risk: anti-immigrant sentiment that has promoted Congress to legislate stricter conditions for refugees; new court decisions that complicate the refugees' path toward asylum. He warns that we may be moving toward a system in which aliens have the right, in theory, to receive asylum, but where it is almost impossible, in practice, for them to do so.".

"Throughout his presentation, Mr. Einolf explains the basic law of asylum in layman's terms, examines the history of the asylum adjudication system, and suggests proposals for reform."--BOOK JACKET.