The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking to move quickly to dismiss more asylum cases found legally insufficient.
“If an asylum claim is facially deficient, you don’t need an evidentiary hearing. We are done wasting time and government resources indulging sham asylum claims.” DHS general counsel James Percival wrote in an X statement on Sept. 3.
Evidentiary hearings, also known as merits hearings, allow asylum applicants and DHS officials to present evidence regarding asylum claims. They also give immigration judges an opportunity to hear arguments from both sides and review the evidence submitted.
The department’s push to expedite the dismissal of asylum claims deemed legally insufficient follows multiple actions by the Trump administration to crack down on asylum fraud. …