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Trump Admin Overhauls Asylum Process With No-Interview Rule
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. The Trump administration said Monday it will allow asylum officers to refer some asylum seekers to immigration court without first interviewing them, ending a longstanding practice that generally provided interviews before cases were sent to immigration judges.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the change in an interim final rule scheduled for publication Tuesday in the Federal Register.
The rule is the latest in a series of federal government actions to tighten asylum and legal immigration since President Donald Trump returned to office last year, including efforts to suspend asylum access at the southern border, end humanitarian parole programs and roll back Temporary Protected Status for some nationalities.
The rule allows U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers to refer certain affirmative asylum applications to the Justice Department's immigration courts without conducting an asylum interview. DHS said interviews will still take place before it grants or denies asylum and in cases where they are required by law or court settlements.
The affirmative asylum process is used by migrants who apply for asylum with USCIS while they are not already in deportation proceedings.
DHS estimates the rule could affect about 132,000 future affirmative asylum applicants each year. The agency says it had more than 1.4 million pending affirmative asylum cases at the end of the 2025 fiscal year.
Until now, USCIS generally interviewed affirmative asylum applicants before deciding whether to grant asylum, deny the claim, or refer the case to an immigration judge.
The new rule allows officers to bypass interviews when the existing record shows an applicant is barred from asylum or otherwise ineligible for the protection, or when asylum is not warranted as a matter of discretion.
DHS said the change will shorten the time required for both asylum officers and immigration judges to adjudicate claims and reduce what it described as duplicative reviews, noting that some applicants whose cases are referred by USCIS receive a fresh review of their asylum claims before an immigration judge. The agency said the rule will help improve efficiency and allow officers to focus interview resources on cases that require additional testimony.
The rule also removes language suggesting asylum applicants have a "right" to an interview before their case is referred to immigration court.
“For far too long the asylum system has been exploited for purposes of delay and work authorization, not legitimate claims of protection,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said in a press release. “America’s asylum system exists to protect individuals who genuinely fear persecution and this rule will help ensure that resources are directed to the timely adjudication of those claims instead of to those seeking to use the system as a loophole.”
“One of the greatest barriers to effective immigration enforcement is intentional delay by illegal aliens and the open borders attorneys who represent them,” DHS General Counsel James Percival said in a news release. “My office works every day with the immigration components of DHS to improve efficiency and fulfill the President’s mandate. The rule would do just that.”
The rule is scheduled to take effect immediately upon publication in the Federal Register, allowing USCIS to begin referring some affirmative asylum applications to immigration court without first conducting interviews. Applicants referred under the new process will still be able to pursue their asylum claims before an immigration judge during removal proceedings.
DHS said it will continue accepting public comments on the rule after it takes effect.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and Sam Wilson .
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