The first analysis of decisions at all four levels of the asylum adjudication process : the Department of Homeland Security, the immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the United States Courts of Appeals. The data reveal tremendous disparities in asylum approval rates, even when different adjudicators in the same office each considered large numbers of applications from nationals of the same country. After providing a thorough empirical analysis, the authors make recommendations for future reform. From publisher description.

The April 20th 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig led to the largest oil spill in U.S. waters. Federal government officials estimated that the deepwater well ultimately released over 200 million gallons of crude oil. Although decreasing amounts of oil were observed on the ocean surface following the well's containment on July 15th 2010, oil spill response officials and researchers have found oil in other places. This new book examines the fate of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Direct observation and measurement of the fate of the vast majority of the estimated 200 million gallons of oil presents a considerable challenge.