New Trump administration rule bypasses asylum interviews

For over thirty years, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services maintained that asylum seekers held a right to an interview to detail persecution fears. The interim final rule, set to take effect Tuesday, eliminates this safeguard. USCIS officials cited an overwhelming backlog as the primary driver, arguing that face-to-face screenings are unsustainable. The policy instead directs applicants to the Executive Office of Immigration Review, an agency under the Department of Justice that operates the federal immigration court system.

Critics warn that the shift effectively denies applicants a meaningful chance to present their cases. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council noted that the change could impact roughly 444,724 pending cases and 132,000 future applicants annually. The move coincides with broader concerns regarding the composition of the immigration judiciary; reports indicate that many recent appointees lack immigration law experience and that asylum grant rates have plummeted from 48% in 2024 to under 5% by February 2026. This administrative hurdle follows an earlier directive granting judges broader discretion to dismiss claims deemed legally deficient without a full hearing.