The Trump administration is initiating a strategy to allow U.S. immigration authorities to dismiss asylum applications swiftly without interviewing applicants. This approach stems from internal federal documents obtained by CBS News.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is drafting a regulation intending to restrict access to the U.S. asylum system, which administration officials argue suffers from widespread fraud. This new rule would empower officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a branch of DHS, to reject asylum applications not filed within a year of the applicant’s arrival in the U.S. without conducting interviews.
Rejected applicants would be placed in deportation proceedings within the Justice Department’s immigration court system, requiring them to argue their cases to remain in the country under adversarial circumstances. Current U.S. immigration law generally disqualifies foreigners from applying for asylum if they apply a year after entry, except in certain cases involving severe medical issues or inadequate legal counsel. Unaccompanied minors are also exempt from this deadline.
The proposed regulation would permit USCIS officers to proceed with an asylum case and schedule an interview if the applicant qualifies for an exception to this one-year deadline, though it would disrupt the existing practice of interviewing nearly all asylum applicants before a decision.
A USCIS spokesperson commented that the Trump administration is “evaluating multiple approaches” to manage a backlog exceeding a million asylum claims, blaming these on the Biden administration’s policies. This includes sending “deficient” applications to immigration courts to avoid spending time on cases destined for court proceedings.
Conchita Cruz, an immigration attorney and co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, criticized the regulation. She mentioned that it “wrongfully” places applicants in deportation proceedings without offering them the chance to justify delayed applications. Cruz explained that there are numerous reasons applicants might not file within a year, such as residing in the U.S. on a temporary visa.
Applicants for asylum in the U.S., regardless of lawful entry, must demonstrate they are escaping persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinions, or social group membership. Successful asylum seekers are permitted to reside permanently in the U.S., while those denied are expected to be deported.
Backlogs of millions of asylum cases have obstructed swift handling of applications, with Republican and Democratic administrations acknowledging that delays encourage economic migrants to misuse the system. As of last fall, USCIS had 1.5 million pending asylum applications, while the Justice Department’s immigration courts had 3.3 million pending claims, including 2.3 million asylum requests.
President Trump’s administration has advanced several initiatives to limit asylum access and escalate deportations of asylum seekers, especially those permitted entry along the southern border during the Biden administration. These measures include “safe third country” agreements, redirecting asylum seekers to other nations with instructions to seek refuge elsewhere instead of the U.S.
Moreover, there was a temporary halt of all asylum cases overseen by USCIS after a shooting incident involving an Afghan asylum grantee in Washington, D.C. The pause was adjusted eventually but still affects cases from 39 countries specified under Trump’s “travel ban” proclamation.