Affirmative Asylum Updates

News on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 detailed the Trump administration’s plans to fast-track asylum cases in immigration court by allowing judges to drop "legally deficient asylum cases without a hearing." The article caused many of our clients to be concerned about the possibility their affirmative asylum cases would be rejected. The article deals with those non-citizens who are applying for asylum while they are in immigration court. Clients with a pending affirmative asylum case are not in immigration court. They entered the country lawfully and with inspection. Those who are discussed in this article are non-citizens who crossed into the US illegally and are then making a claim for asylum in immigration court as a defense against removal. 

As it relates to affirmative asylum, there have been no direct changes to the law or to policy that impact these client’s cases. All immigrants are justified in being concerned about this administration and what they are trying to do to limit immigration to the US. For the time being, affirmative asylum clients are not directly impacted by the actions outline in the above article.