Department of Homeland Security Implements New Asylum Claim Dismissal Guidelines

The Department of Homeland Security has introduced new guidelines for immigration attorneys. This directive focuses on seeking early dismissal of asylum claims deemed legally insufficient.

Immediate Actions

Effective immediately, attorneys from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) are tasked with dismissing asylum applications that fail to meet legal standards upon initial review. This involves filing motions to pretermit in immigration court. A motion to pretermit asks immigration judges to deny an application prior to a full merits hearing based on its legal inadequacy. However, judges will ultimately decide whether to deny such motions.

An image shows a law enforcement officer in front of ICE’s logo, taken on May 11, 2017, during a press conference in Washington, DC. (Source: Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Intended Impact

The guidance aims to speed up the adjudication process for asylum claims that fulfill legal criteria and allows for earlier governmental challenges to deficient applications. This directive also accentuates ongoing efforts to combat asylum fraud, including holding attorneys accountable for facilitating false claims.

Previous Actions

The administration previously took steps to reshape the asylum system by streamlining the affirmative asylum process. This change permits certain applications to proceed to immigration court without initial asylum interviews, potentially reducing redundant reviews and addressing court backlogs.

Joseph Edlow, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington about improvements to the asylum system. (Source: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

ICE has also been focusing on asylum fraud. The agency introduced a policy to pursue civil penalties against attorneys accused of facilitating false claims and has sought financial penalties against a New York attorney charged with filing fraudulent applications.

Litigation Strategy Enhancement

The latest guidelines extend efforts into immigration court proceedings by requiring government attorneys to challenge claims lacking legal sufficiency before these cases reach full evidentiary hearings.

The U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C., captured on August 17, 2026. (Source: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

This policy represents another component of the Trump administration’s strategy to tighten the asylum system through changes in enforcement and litigation.

Brittany Miller, a Fox News Digital breaking news writer, provided this report. Miller, a Syracuse University graduate in 2023, was previously with the Independent.