Asylum — Civic term

What it means

Protection for someone already in the United States, or arriving at its border, who cannot return home because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.

Definition drawn from law.cornell.edu · last verified 2026-08-17

Sift's plain-language summary of the cited source, not a quotation from it.

How it's being covered

268 stories in Sift's index, from 40 outlets.

Filed 2026-03-30 — 2026-09-25.

Counts stories whose headline or summary uses the term, plus stories where Sift's own reading notes flagged it — many pieces turn on a term they never spell out in the headline.

Across the spectrum

Left83 stories
Center82 stories
Right76 stories

Positions are AllSides' published ratings, shown for the outlets that filed these stories. 27 stories are counted in the total above but not placed here — either the outlet has no published rating, or Sift has not yet matched the name it files under to a dossier.

Who's covering it