DHS begins sending some asylum cases to immigration court without interviews
The Department of Homeland Security has changed how some affirmative asylum cases move into the federal immigration-court system, allowing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to refer certain applications to the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review without first conducting an interview.
The interim final rule took effect July 28, 2026. It applies across the nationwide asylum-adjudication system administered by DHS, USCIS and the Justice Department.
The change does not mean that an asylum applicant automatically loses the opportunity for an interview, and a referral is not an asylum denial or a removal order. The official notice says USCIS continues to offer an interview before it grants or denies asylum.
What changed under the rule
Before the new procedure, an interview was part of the path for cases that USCIS evaluated before deciding whether to grant asylum or refer the matter to immigration court. Under the interim final rule, USCIS may refer certain affirmative applications to EOIR without conducting that interview first.
EOIR is the Justice Department component responsible for the federal immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals. A referral moves a case from USCIS into that court system, changing the setting in which the applicant’s asylum claim will proceed.
The rule also removes a requirement that referral letters include an assessment of the applicant’s credibility. That change affects the information that accompanies a referral; it does not itself establish that an applicant’s claim is credible or not credible, and it does not constitute a final asylum decision.
For applicants, the practical effect is a change in procedural expectations. Some people who submitted affirmative asylum applications may now see their cases directed to immigration court without first receiving the USCIS interview that they might have expected. The packet does not identify how many cases will be referred under the new process.
What remains unresolved
The rule is an interim final rule, and the government is accepting public comments. Comments are due Sept. 28, 2026.
That deadline gives applicants, attorneys, advocacy groups and other members of the public an opportunity to respond to the change. The approved official notice does not specify how many cases will be affected, and the available sources do not establish whether litigation has been filed against the rule.
The rule’s implementation comes as the administration pursues other changes to immigration policy. The Associated Press reported Aug. 5 that the administration had terminated temporary protected status for roughly 1 million people from more than a dozen countries, including Haitians. Temporary protected status is a separate immigration program from affirmative asylum, so that development provides broader policy context rather than changing the asylum referral rule itself.
What happens next
USCIS can begin using the rule for eligible cases now that it is effective. Cases referred to EOIR will proceed within the Justice Department’s immigration-court system, while USCIS retains the ability to conduct an interview before granting or denying asylum.
The next stated government deadline is Sept. 28, when public comments on the interim final rule are due. Until then, the available notice establishes the new referral authority and the removal of the credibility-assessment requirement, but it does not provide a case-count estimate or resolve whether the policy will face a court challenge.
Sources
- Executive Office for Immigration Review: Federal Register Notices 2026, U.S. Department of Justice
- Executive Office for Immigration Review, U.S. Department of Justice
- The Latest: Trump talks up the economy at a Las Vegas casino, Associated Press
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