The U.S. is trying to deal with a large number of immigration backlog cases. They are moving certain asylum cases from immigration courts to asylum officers in nine cities. This change was started in May 2022 but was paused in April 2023 to prepare for ending Title 42.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security gave USCIS officers the power to approve or deny asylum applications. These were reviewed quickly for people who had already passed initial screenings.

To handle the 2.6 million cases waiting in immigration courts, the Biden administration created a program to refer asylum applications to asylum officers. Some states challenged this in court, but those cases haven’t been heard yet.

For now, this process applies to individual asylum-seekers in specific cities. USCIS may decide to include eligible noncitizen families later. The cities involved are Annandale, Virginia, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

If you have questions about asylum or other immigration matters, you can contact us for advice tailored to your situation.