On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a major change designed to reduce the asylum backlog. The Trump administration issued an interim final regulation formally titled “Affirmative Asylum Referrals Without Interview” (DHS Docket No. USCIS-2026-0199 / RIN 1615-AD18).
Affirmative asylum applications are filed by people already present in the United States who are not in removal proceedings. The goal is to cut the massive backlog of asylum cases. By the end of fiscal year 2025, USCIS had more than 1.4 million affirmative applications still pending.
Under the new regulation, asylum officers can refer certain affirmative applications directly to immigration judges without first interviewing the applicant. This ends the lengthy process in which USCIS interviewed the person, reviewed the file, and only then decided whether to grant asylum, deny the claim, or refer the case.
Previously, a referral required a second full hearing in immigration court, delaying cases. Now USCIS can refer applicants based only on the written record if they appear barred, ineligible, or undeserving of asylum, eliminating the redundant interview and double examination.
Interviews will still be required before USCIS grants or denies asylum, and in any case where the law or a court settlement demands one. Even if someone is referred without an interview, they can still present their full case, including testimony, before an immigration judge.
Officers can still review the application materials and request additional evidence before making a referral. The regulation also removes language that suggested applicants had a general “right” to an interview before being referred.
Administration officials described the change as a way to curb abuse and waste. USCIS Director Joseph Edlow was blunt: the asylum process “has been exploited for purposes of delay and work authorization, not legitimate claims of protection.” He stressed that priority must go to people with genuine persecution claims, not those gaming the system.
DHS General Counsel James Percival pointed to deliberate stalling by applicants and their lawyers as a major obstacle to enforcement, adding that the change advances the president’s push for a tighter, more efficient system.
DHS projects the change could affect about 132,000 future affirmative applicants each year by speeding up the process for both asylum officers and immigration judges and by eliminating overlapping reviews.
As Edlow put it, “America’s asylum system exists to protect individuals who genuinely fear persecution and this rule will help ensure that resources are directed to the timely adjudication of those claims instead of to those seeking to use the system as a loophole.” Percival added that the change fulfills the president’s mandate for greater efficiency.
