The Department of Homeland Security has rolled out new guidance instructing its immigration lawyers to move quickly to dismiss asylum cases they believe do not meet legal requirements, according to internal guidance obtained by News Outlet.
Under the policy, which takes effect immediately, attorneys in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, known as OPLA, are expected to file motions to pretermit in immigration court when they determine that an asylum application is legally deficient on its face.
A motion to pretermit asks an immigration judge to reject an asylum claim before a full merits hearing, based on the government’s argument that the application fails to satisfy the legal standard.
Immigration judges retain the final authority to decide whether those motions should be granted.
ICE SEEKS NEARLY $500K FINE AGAINST IMMIGRATION LAWYER ACCUSED OF FILING FAKE ASYLUM CLAIMS
A law enforcement officer walks past the ICE logo before a press conference on Thursday, May 11, 2017, at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The new asylum guidance is designed to speed up the immigration court process for claims that meet the required legal threshold, while giving government attorneys a way to challenge insufficient applications at an earlier stage.
The directive also underscores the administration’s continued emphasis on fighting asylum fraud, including efforts to hold immigration attorneys responsible when they are accused of helping advance fraudulent asylum claims.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington. The Trump administration has made a series of changes to the asylum system aimed at reducing backlogs and speeding the adjudication of claims. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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.
The U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 17, 2026. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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.
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.
