Politics
DHS directs ICE attorneys to seek early dismissal of deficient asylum claims
Internal guidance instructs government lawyers to file motions to pretermit to resolve insufficient applications before full merits hearings.
The short version
- The Department of Homeland Security directed ICE attorneys to seek early dismissals of asylum applications deemed legally insufficient on their face.
- Government lawyers are instructed to file motions to pretermit in immigration court rather than proceeding directly to full merits hearings.
- Immigration judges retain the ultimate authority to grant or deny the government's dismissal motions.
Key facts
- DHS issued internal guidance instructing ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor attorneys to file motions to pretermit for asylum applications considered legally insufficient.[Fox News]
- A motion to pretermit asks an immigration judge to deny an asylum claim before a full merits hearing takes place.[Fox News]
- Immigration judges maintain final decision-making power over whether to grant or deny the government's dismissal requests.[Fox News]
- The administration aims for the guidance to speed up valid asylum claims, challenge non-compliant filings earlier, and address potential asylum fraud.[Fox News]
What remains uncertain
- It remains unknown how frequently immigration judges will grant these pretermit motions and how significantly the policy will reduce immigration court backlogs.[Fox News]