The Trump administration is planning to dismiss asylum claims for potentially hundreds of thousands of migrants in the United States and then make them immediately deportable as part of the president’s sweeping immigration crackdown, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
It marks the latest in a series of moves by the administration to bar migrants from receiving protections in the US. As federal authorities come under pressure to deliver historic immigration arrest numbers, administration officials have quietly been working on efforts to make more people eligible for removal.
The people being targeted in this case are those who entered the US unlawfully and later applied for asylum, the sources said. Their cases are expected to be closed, therefore leaving them at risk of deportation. It could affect hundreds of thousands of asylum applicants.
Over the last decade, the majority of applicants who applied for asylum with US Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, self-reported how they entered the US, with around 25 percent saying they entered the US unlawfully. That amounts to at least a quarter of a million people, according to a federal report analyzing asylees in 2023. The others entered legally via a port of entry through various visas.
Under US law, people who are seeking protection from violence or persecution in their home country can claim asylum to remain in the United States. Trump effectively sealed off access to claiming asylum at the US southern border upon taking office.
There are currently around 1.45 million people with pending affirmative asylum applications, federal data shows. People who are not in deportation proceedings can apply for affirmative asylum through USCIS.
USCIS — which falls under the Department of Homeland Security and is responsible for managing federal immigration benefits — has also been delegated the authority by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to place those individuals in fast-track deportation proceedings as well as “take additional actions to enforce civil and criminal violations of the immigration laws,” according to a memo obtained by CNN. That marks an unprecedented departure from decades-long protocol for USCIS.
In a statement to CNN, USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said the agency had “nothing to announce at this time.”
“USCIS’ top priority remains the screening and vetting of all aliens seeking to come, live, or work in the United States. President Trump and Secretary Noem have given USCIS the ability to use all tools in our toolbox to ensure that the integrity of the immigration system is upheld, fraud is uncovered and expeditiously addressed, and illegal aliens are removed from the country,” he added.
Typically, USCIS can turn people over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the next stages of their immigration process if they determine they’re not eligible for relief in the United States. Enforcement actions, like ordering someone to be quickly removed, have generally fallen under the authority of ICE and US Customs and Border Protection.
Experts and advocates warn that placing USCIS at the center of the president’s deportation campaign is likely to have a chilling effect for those trying to obtain relief and remain in the United States.
“They’re turning the agency that we think of as providing immigration benefits as an enforcement arm for ICE” said Sarah Mehta, deputy director of government affairs for the American Civil Liberties Union’s equality division.
Migrants who have their cases dismissed under the administration’s new plan will be subject to expedited removal. That fast-track deportation procedure allows immigration authorities to remove an individual without a hearing before an immigration judge.
Trump officials expanded fast-track deportations earlier this year to include undocumented immigrants anywhere in the US who cannot prove they’ve lived in the US continuously for two years or more. The administration also previously told immigration judges they should dismiss “legally deficient” asylum cases without holding a hearing.
Some migrants who have lived and worked in the US for years have already received notices of their asylum applications being dismissed without a determination, according to a notice shared with CNN. It’s unclear how many people have received the notice of dismissal.
The Trump administration has targeted multiple programs designed to temporarily protect migrants in the United States and in some cases, has terminated those protections. But it’s unusual for USCIS to accept an application and then abruptly dismiss it.
The asylum process is also different because it provides a long-term solution for applicants and serves as a path to US citizenship, even for people who entered the country illegally.
“The government should process asylum applications – not throw them out. Every asylum seeker should have an opportunity to have their asylum case processed. These are immigrants who have been in the U.S. working legally for years and are contributing to local communities throughout the country,” said Conchita Cruz, co-executive director of Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project. “Dismissing their asylum cases will hurt them, their families, employers, and communities that rely on them.”
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