The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued changes to U.S. asylum rules that let USCIS officers refer applicants straight to immigration court without first interviewing them. The interim final rule takes effect Tuesday and could affect more than 100,000 people in Texas, where the asylum-seeker backlog in immigration court was already more than 102,600 in December 2023.
USCIS said the rule is meant to reduce the affirmative asylum backlog, improve efficiency, safeguard national security and public safety, and keep agency priorities consistent. USCIS also said it will no longer offer interviews to all affirmative applicants before referral to EIOR.
USCIS and EIOR
Joseph Edlow said the current system “essentially allows an alien to get a second chance at asylum.” Edlow also said, “For far too long the asylum system has been exploited for purposes of delay and work authorization, not legitimate claims of protection.”
The change removes the first interview for some applicants and sends the file onward without that non-adversarial step. Rehan Alimohammad, a professor of practice at the University of Houston Law Center's Immigration Clinic, said that interview is meant to let asylum applicants explain their circumstances before a case moves forward. “Now, with this rule, they’re not going to get that opportunity anymore, and it’s going to just be sent to an immigration judge,” Alimohammad said.
Texas immigration court backlog
Alimohammad also said, “And an immigration judge can pre-terminate the case just by looking at the application and saying, ‘Well, you didn’t answer this question completely, so I’m denying your case without even a hearing.'” That makes the written application more important at the point when USCIS decides whether to refer the case.
Gordon Quan, a Houston immigration attorney, said, “To me, it’s robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Quan said, “Instead of these cases going to the asylum officer and being reviewed, they’re going to be dumped on the immigration court, which is already backlogged.”
Quan also said, “The faster they can get you into court, the faster they can get you removed, the faster they can put you out of the country,” tying the new process to a quicker path into removal proceedings once USCIS refers a case. For applicants in Texas, the immediate practical issue is whether their case is screened by USCIS first or pushed straight into immigration court after Tuesday.
Tuesday in Texas
The rule changes the first decision point in the asylum process for a large group of applicants in Texas, where the backlog already exceeds 102,600 cases. For people filing affirmative asylum claims, the key shift is that the USCIS interview is no longer guaranteed before referral to an immigration judge, so the completeness of the application may carry even more weight once the rule takes effect Tuesday.
