School shootings and transgender rights causing US citizens to seek asylum in Ireland

Transgender rights, persecution by a religious sect and school shootings are among the reasons a growing number of United States citizens have sought asylum in Ireland in recent years.A review of asylum appeal judgments shows a broad range of claims for international protection by Americans, Canadians and British people. However, none to date has been successful.Applications for international protection from US citizens were previously few and far between. However, as of 2022 there has been a gradual increase, followed by a sharp rise in 2025 when Donald Trump assumed the US presidency for the second time.READ MORENinety-four US citizens sought asylum in Ireland in 2025, up from 22 the year before.So far this year, 43 have applied for asylum, according to the Department of Justice. Despite the rise, US citizens still form a tiny fraction of the 13,160 total who sought asylum in Ireland last year.Asylum applications are initially heard by a civil servant from the International Protection Office. If an application is rejected, asylum seekers can appeal to the Tribunal for Asylum and Returns Appeals (Tara), which took over from the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (Ipat) last June. Ipat continues to hear appeals lodged before June.In 2022, a woman claimed asylum citing increasing violence in the US, including the rising number of school shootings. She cited an incident where her son’s day care was locked down due to a nearby shooting, and said she had been forced to buy a gun to protect her restaurant from looters during riots.Refusing the application, the tribunal found that while gun violence was an issue in the US, it was not enough of a specific threat to the woman to grant her asylum.Another case lodged by a US citizen in 2023 concerned alleged abuse of her by members of a religious sect. The woman said she was abused and tortured by members of the group and forced into marriage. She said she underwent abuse by church members at various locations in the US and that she feared persecution if she returned due to the influence of a powerful member of the group. The tribunal found the woman’s account of abuse was credible, but declined to grant refugee status or other international protection on the basis that there “is not a state of indiscriminate violence in America”.The finding that the US was a democratic country based on the rule of law featured in most refusals of asylum by Ipat members.In a case heard in 2025, Ipat refused asylum to a transgender woman who said she was a victim of transphobic abuse and domestic violence in the US and that her parents had murdered her sister.The tribunal rejected the woman’s claims due to a lack of evidence and ruled that she was unlikely to be subject to state persecution in the US on her return.However, it did note that the Trump administration had little sympathy or understanding of trans people.“This attitude trickles down, and many of the majority who voted for president Trump can be assumed to share his views on LGBTI people.”Another case dating to 2023 dealt with a black transgender woman who said she was kidnapped and tortured by the FBI. [ State wins appeal over €21,877 damages award to international protection applicantOpens in new window ]Denying her claim, the tribunal said that while black people are treated unequally in the US in many respects, there is not enough evidence to show state persecution.In 2024, an American woman lodged an appeal against a decision to refuse her asylum based on allegations of domestic violence and continuing threats from her ex-husband and his family.She said her former partner was sexually abusive, had tried to run her over in his truck and had fired a gun in the house. The Ipat member said there were issues with the credibility and consistency of the woman’s account and ruled that she would not face persecution if returned to the US. Ipat also refused asylum claims from two Canadian citizens in the last five years, including in one 2026 case where the applicant claimed he was at risk of murder due to being a Catholic.Last year, it refused asylum applications from two United Kingdom nationals, including one claiming a risk of persecution by people linked to the IRA. [ Ireland’s asylum system is flawed, but a factory for fast decisions is not the answerOpens in new window ]The tribunal noted the man was entitled to Irish citizenship due to having been born in Northern Ireland, but had not applied.