backlog

# 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
# BIA# Federal Courts

Board of Imitation Appeals

The BIA was meant to be the “Supreme Court of immigration,” reviewing decisions by Immigration Judges and USCIS, interpreting the law, and setting precedents. It never quite worked out that way, as the Board has always been overwhelmed, understaffed, and has consistently failed to issue sufficient guidance to the nation’s Immigration Courts. But for all its flaws, the Board offered a modicum of hope that incorrect decisions could be corrected on appeal.

Now, however, new rules will change the way the Board of Immigration Appeals does business. These rules are meant to make the BIA into a rubber stamp for IJ decisions and will almost entirely eliminate due process for non-citizens at the administrative appellate level.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Seekers# National Security

USCIS Restricts Work Permits for Asylum Seekers

Asylum seekers are eligible for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) while their application is pending. Although EADs are issued for 5 years, most applicants need to renew their employment authorization because the wait is so long.

Up until last week, if you filed to renew before your current EAD expired, you received an automatic 540-day extension of the current card. This was important, since USCIS often processes renewals slowly, and without the extension, many asylum seekers would lose the ability to work. But now, a new rule has eliminated the automatic EAD extension for asylum seekers (and others), and so when your card expires, you can no longer work lawfully.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Immigration Court

More Court Chaos: The DHS Push to Re-Open Closed Cases

In my office, we’ve recently been receiving motions from DHS (the prosecutor in Immigration Court) asking to reopen administratively closed cases and place them on the court’s active docket. Some of these cases were closed more than 15 years ago, and they belong to lawyers who have long ago left my office. How we will even find some of these clients to let them know, I am not sure.

As it turns out, we are not alone. Although there has been no official announcement from DHS, it seems that the agency wants to re-calendar all closed cases, which represents almost 400,000 non-citizens. Added to the current Immigration Court backlog, which stands at about 3.5 million, this new push to re-calendar cases will further overwhelm an already overloaded system. 

Here, we will discuss what is happening, what to do if you currently have an administratively closed case, and how this new development might affect the Immigration Courts more generally.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Seekers# Immigration Court

Immigration Court Data: More Asylum Decisions, More Asylum Denials

The latest data from our nation’s Immigration Courts reveals that judges are deciding more asylum cases than ever–and that denial rates are increasing.

The most recent numbers are from March 2025, and show that Immigration Judges adjudicated 10,933 asylum applications, which is the most cases ever decided in a single month. Of those, 76% were denied–another record.

Here, we’ll examine the data and see if we can learn more about what’s going on.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Office# Asylum Seekers

The Time to Prepare for Your Asylum Interview Is Now

Asylum Offices around the country have become very busy. Oldest and newest cases, cases that were previously before the Immigration Court, and sometimes seemingly random cases are being scheduled for interviews. Often times, there is little advanced notice prior to the interview date. This means that applicants do not always have enough time to gather and submit their evidence, which is usually due at least a week before the interview.

Since it is not possible to know when you might be scheduled for an interview, or how much advanced notice you will have before the interview, the best approach is to gather your evidence now, so you are ready to go when the time comes.

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

Trump Administration to Asylum Officers and IJs: Go Faster!

By now, you’ve probably heard that the Trump Administration is not a fan of immigrants. They have been making changes to detain and deport more non-citizens, more quickly, and with fewer due process protections. To that end, the Administration is pressuring Asylum Officers and Immigration Judges to adjudicate more cases. These civil servants are already stretched thin, and so the additional work is likely to reduce decision quality, as well as damage morale. It will also make litigating cases more difficult for asylum seekers and other non-citizens, as they will have less time to present their cases, and–most probably–less time to prepare.

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By Jason Dzubow
# BIA# Immigration Court

“Massacre” at the BIA Portends Bigger Changes at EOIR

Last week, 13 of 28 members of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) were purged. Those targeted include appellate judges appointed by the Biden Administration, some of whom were still on probation (BIA judges have a two-year probationary period) and others who had completed their probation. The firings, which go into effect next month, seem not to have complied with proper legal procedures, and are likely to be challenged in court by at least some of the terminated judges.  

Having talked with people on the inside, this mass firing sounds like it is only the beginning. I’m told that the Trump Administration plans to radically re-make the Immigration Court system in order to dramatically reduce due process protections for non-citizens.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Office# Asylum Seekers

Updates (or Lack Thereof) from the Asylum Office

There was a time during the good old days of the Obama Administration when the Asylum Office would release quarterly statistics and even hold in-person stakeholder meetings where advocates could talk to the Asylum Office leadership. The Trump Administration worked hard to end transparency in government, and the pandemic didn’t help. As a result, the meetings and quarterly data disappeared. I had hoped that the Biden Administration would revive these practices, but that was not to be.

So now-a-days, we have to get our data where we can. This isn’t easy, but recently–as a result of my involvement in some Congressional lobbying efforts–I came across information about the Asylum Office that I thought I would share here.

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By Jason Dzubow
# Asylum Seekers

Credit for Time Served

In criminal law, if an accused person spends time behind bars before his conviction, that time can be credited towards his total sentence. Is there an equivalent concept in asylum law, where applicants routinely wait years for a decision in their case? 

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By Jason Dzubow