The U.S. government plans on letting immigration officers reject asylum applicants without an interview. According to CBS, the change in policy reflects a wider effort regarding fraud in the asylum system. The policy is currently under planning and hasn’t been formally proposed.

Under the regulation, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) agents can issue an asylum rejection and place said rejects in removal proceedings before the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) immigration court system. Traditionally, immigration authorities could only trigger removal procedures if an immigration judge rules removal necessary. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated the policy streamlines the processing of asylum cases.

USCIS regulation stipulates seekers file within one year of entering the U.S. Originally, USCIS officers had to interview all asylum applicants that didn’t meet this one-year deadline before deciding to place them in removal procedures. The planned regulation lets agents decide this without conducting an interview. The implementation plan for the regulation is still unclear.

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