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EXCLUSIVE – The Department of Homeland Security has issued new guidance directing its immigration attorneys to seek early dismissal of asylum claims they determine are legally insufficient, according to internal guidance obtained by Fox News Digital.
Effective immediately, attorneys with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) are expected to seek dismissal of asylum applications they determine fail to meet the legal standard on their face by filing motions to pretermit in immigration court.
A motion to pretermit asks an immigration judge to deny an asylum application before a full merits hearing because the government argues the application is legally insufficient.
Immigration judges ultimately decide whether to grant those motions.
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The guidance is intended to expedite the adjudication of asylum claims that satisfy the legal requirements while allowing the government to challenge deficient applications earlier in the immigration court process.
The directive also reinforces the administration’s ongoing focus on combating asylum fraud, including continued efforts to hold attorneys accountable for facilitating fraudulent asylum claims.
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The policy follows a series of recent administration actions aimed at reshaping the asylum system. Earlier this year, the administration streamlined portions of the affirmative asylum process by allowing certain applications to move directly to immigration court without first undergoing asylum interviews, a change officials said would reduce duplicative reviews and help address the immigration court backlog.
The administration has also expanded its focus on asylum fraud. In recent months, ICE announced a policy allowing the agency to pursue civil penalties against attorneys accused of facilitating fraudulent asylum claims and later sought financial penalties against a New York immigration attorney accused of filing fraudulent asylum applications.
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The latest guidance extends that broader effort into immigration court litigation by directing government attorneys to challenge asylum claims they believe do not satisfy the legal requirements before those cases proceed to full evidentiary hearings.
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The policy marks another step in the Trump administration’s broader effort to tighten the asylum system through changes to immigration enforcement and litigation strategy.
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