Trump Administration Moves to Eliminate Asylum Interviews, Sending Applicants Directly to Deportation Proceedings

An interim final rule issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will take effect next week, allowing the agency to bypass the traditional face-to-face interview for most asylum seekers. Instead, applicants can be referred straight to immigration judges at the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) based solely on the written documentation they have submitted.

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For more than three decades, USCIS has required an interview as part of the “reasonable opportunity” asylum process, enabling claimants to explain persecution risks and supply additional evidence. The agency’s filing acknowledges that interviews often elicit more detailed testimony, but argues that the growing backlog of cases makes the practice “unsustainable.”

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• The Department of Homeland Security estimate in the filing projects that up to 444,724 pending asylum cases and roughly 132,000 future applications each year could be affected by the new procedure.

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• Data cited by *The Washington Post* show that immigration judges granted asylum in fewer than 5 % of cases in February 2026, down sharply from 48 % in 2024.

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• The same reporting notes that two-thirds of judges appointed as of April 2026 lacked prior immigration law experience.

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Legal scholars and advocacy groups argue that the rule undermines due process by denying claimants a meaningful chance to present their cases. Critics highlight the rapid appointment of “deportation judges” with limited expertise and point to a broader pattern of restrictive immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.

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• “This means many people will never get a chance to argue their case,” — Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

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