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US Administration Moves to Cancel Thousands of Asylum Cases

2025-12-23

The BareStory

The U.S. administration has initiated a nationwide effort to cancel thousands of active asylum cases. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attorneys have recently filed numerous "pretermit" motions in immigration courts in cities including New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. These motions request that judges dismiss asylum claims without a hearing on their merits, which would allow for the applicants' deportation to third countries.

The government’s strategy is based on a law concerning applicants who are eligible for protection in a "safe third country." According to a late October ruling from the Board of Immigration Appeals, judges must decide on third-country deportations before considering the asylum case itself and must place the burden of proof on the applicant to demonstrate fear of persecution in the third country. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated it is using all lawful tools, including bilateral agreements with nations like Guatemala and Uganda, to manage asylum backlogs and what it called abuse of the system. The DHS also asserted that these partner countries would adjudicate claims fairly.

According to internal government data from early December, ICE had filed over 8,000 such motions. Immigration lawyers claim the policy affects clients with strong asylum claims from countries such as Iran, Nicaragua, and Russia, and is intended to pressure them into dropping their cases. One attorney reported a Nicaraguan client was ordered deported to Honduras. Legal advocacy groups are challenging the regulation underpinning the motions, with a director at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies calling the tactic an attempt to "completely eviscerate the availability of asylum."

Left Perspective

  • The administration is using lawful tools to manage asylum backlogs and system abuse.
  • The policy is grounded in the "safe third country" legal principle.
  • Partner countries will provide fair adjudication for relocated asylum seekers.

Right Perspective

  • Critics allege the policy is an attempt to dismantle the asylum system.
  • The motions affect individuals with strong, legitimate asylum claims.
  • Cases are being dismissed without a hearing on their merits.

How it may affect me

As a U.S. reader:

• The policy could reduce the number of cases heard in U.S. immigration courts, altering the asylum process and potentially accelerating deportations for some applicants.

• Legal challenges against the regulation are underway, which means the policy’s long-term future and the rules for asylum seekers may be decided in federal court.

• This effort to manage the asylum case backlog may change federal spending on immigration courts, but any net financial impact on taxpayers remains unspecified.

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