Legal

# Asylum Office# Asylum Seekers

More Sneaky Ways to Deny Asylum, Courtesy of the Asylum Office

When asylum seekers are permitted to present their applications for protection in the United States, their cases are often granted. That’s because the asylum law–as created by Congress–is fairly generous.

Our favorable humanitarian law conflicts with the Trump Administration’s goal of blocking people from obtaining asylum in the United States. Rather than attempting to amend the law, the Administration has implemented a series of procedural and administrative roadblocks to prevent applicants from having their cases evaluated on the merits.

Last week, USCIS issued some new rules for cases at the Asylum Office. The most noteworthy change relates to when evidence is due. Other new (or new-ish) rules concern rescheduling interviews and biometric appointments, and attorney attendance at interviews.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Office# Asylum Seekers# BIA# Immigration Court

The Time to Pay the Asylum Fee Is Now

Last year, the One Big Beautiful Bill created a filing fee for asylum and an annual fee that asylum seekers must pay each year their application is pending. Unfortunately, the roll out of the fee payment system was a mess. It was impossible to pay the fee unless you first received a notice from USCIS or EOIR (the Executive Office for Immigration Review–the office that oversees our nation’s Immigration Courts), but some people were able to pay without receiving a notice. Other people were not able to pay even with the notice. Many people never received a notice at all. The fee was temporarily paused by a lawsuit, but then went back into effect. In short, the whole annual asylum fee (AAF) system is confusing. It’s also frightening, since failure to pay could result in your asylum case being denied.

For many asylum seekers, the window to pay the AAF closed before they could pay (or before they even knew they were required to pay). Recently, however, the window has reopened for some affirmative asylum seekers, and they have been able to pay the fee. Of course, this happened without an announcement from USCIS; we know about it only because some asylum seekers have reported that they are now able to pay the fee. We do not know how long the payment window will remain open, and so if you have not yet paid the AAF, the time to do that is now.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Office# Asylum Seekers# Immigration Court

New Rule Aims to Send Affirmative Asylum Seekers to Court Without an Interview

Earlier this week, a new rule went into effect, which permits the Asylum Office to send certain affirmative asylum applicants to Immigration Court without an interview. The purported justification for the rule is “to reduce the backlog in the asylum system,” and–in the double-speak of USCIS–to “protect individuals who genuinely fear persecution and… 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.”

I suppose denying cases without bothering to adjudicate them will save time. It will also reduce the backlog, at least the backlog at the Asylum Office. But shifting tens of thousands of cases to Immigration Court will increase the backlog there.

Here, we’ll take a look at what the rule says, how it might impact affirmative asylum seekers, and what you can do about it.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Immigration Court

Surviving the New Mega-Master Calendar Hearings

The Trump Administration has been using all the tools in its vast toolkit to make life more difficult for immigrants. Their newest machination is the “mega” Master Calendar Hearing in Immigration Court, where up to 100 non-citizens (and their lawyers) are required to be present for a brief in-person hearing.

What is the purpose of these mega MCHs and why are they problematic? What should you do if you are waiting for your MCH in Immigration Court?

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By Jason Dzubow
# Immigration Court

Incompetence and Laziness in Immigration Court

I recently appeared in court before a newly-appointed Immigration Judge. Unlike some of the new hires, this IJ had prior government experience in the immigration arena. He also previously served as a state court judge. You might think that someone with these qualifications would be well-suited for a job in Immigration Court. But if you thought that: (a) you obviously didn’t read the title of this article, which is weird; and (b) you would be wrong. The judge was unprepared for the case, he did not know the law, and he ignored direct orders from a higher court.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Seekers# Immigration Court

Rumors of Asylum’s Death Have Been Greatly (Somewhat? Slightly?) Exaggerated

In a recent announcement, the White House stated that asylum grant rates have “collapsed” in Immigration Court. “Under President Trump,” the announcement continues, “asylum is now granted in just 7% of cases — a historic low, plummeting from over 50% rubber-stamped under Biden.” Is this the end of asylum as we know it? In the immortal words of that great Twentieth Century philosopher Monty Python: “I’m not quite dead.”

It is true that asylum grant rates have fallen significantly since President Trump took office, but the numbers don’t tell the whole story, and here we’ll look at what’s happening in Immigration Court and how the overall negative trend might apply to an individual asylum case.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Office# Asylum Seekers# Immigration

New Tool to Monitor USCIS’s Progress (or Lack Thereof)

The American Immigration Council (AIC) has a new web page that collects and organizes statistical information from USCIS. The data spans the period from FY2016 through FY2025 (October 2015 through September 2025), and covers most areas of immigration: humanitarian, family-based, employment, and work permits, among others. Organizing USCIS data this way reveals some interesting patterns, and may help set expectations for people with pending cases.

To fully appreciate the data, it’s worth spending some time on the AIC web page. Here, we’ll examine a few of the trends revealed by AIC, with an emphasis on asylum and asylum-adjacent applications.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Office# Asylum Seekers

New–and Dangerous–Questions at the Asylum Office

Recently, we’ve been seeing some unusual questions during asylum interviews. Applicants are being asked about their views of America and of Jewish people. They are asked about their finances and community involvement, whether they attend religious services, and their family ties to the United States.

Since this is the Trump Administration, you can probably guess that the new questions are not designed to make life easier for asylum seekers. Here, we’ll look at what’s changed and why, and discuss how to prepare for this aspect of your interview.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Office# Asylum Seekers# Immigration# National Security

USCIS Ends Some “Holds,” Including on Certain Asylum Seekers

Last December, USCIS announced that it had “halted all asylum decisions” until it could “ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.” Various other applications were also halted in the name of national security for individuals from the 39 “banned” countries.

Now, in a rare bit of good news from the Trump Administration, USCIS has issued an update indicating that some holds have been lifted for asylum seekers and others. The Agency has not provide much detail, but here, we’ll see what we can glean from this most recent announcement.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Office# Asylum Seekers# Credible Fear# Detention# Immigration Court

Affirmative Asylum Cases Dismissed and Sent to Court Without an Interview

One quiet trend that has recently come to light is a new practice at the Asylum Office to dismiss affirmative applications without processing them. The asylum seekers are then subject to “expedited removal” proceedings or otherwise served with a Notice to Appear in Immigration Court. Some are detained. A preliminary evaluation of these dismissals found that many were improper under the law.

Here, we’ll examine this new development, look at who is affected, and discuss how to prepare for the possibility that your case will be dismissed by the Asylum Office.

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By Jason Dzubow