The Trump administration has granted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) expanded powers to prosecute immigration lawyers accused of filing fraudulent asylum claims, intensifying its scrutiny of the U.S. immigration system.
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❓ WHAT HAPPENED: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a directive granting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attorneys greater authority to prosecute immigration lawyers accused of filing fraudulent asylum applications. The directive follows a previous executive order alleging widespread fraud by immigration attorneys and asylum seekers.
📺 DETAIL: Homeland Security officials said the move builds on the executive order accusing immigration attorneys and large law firms of coaching migrants to lie in asylum applications to secure legal protection in the United States. DHS General Counsel James Percival claimed abuse of the asylum system is widespread in immigration courts and said ICE will now take a more active role in pursuing attorneys suspected of misconduct. The crackdown comes as the administration continues a broader overhaul of the immigration system, including suspending asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border, firing immigration judges, increasing courthouse arrests, and pushing to reduce a backlog of more than three million immigration cases. A federal appeals court last month blocked part of Trump’s asylum restrictions, ruling immigration law does not allow the President to create policies beyond congressional authority. Administration officials have also expanded efforts to deport large numbers of migrants, with ICE informing Congress it aims to deport one million migrants over 2026 and 2027 while maintaining nearly 99,000 detainees in custody daily. New policies seek to revoke Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than one million people, strip citizenship from some naturalized Americans, and require certain green card applicants to leave the country during status adjustments.
💬 KEY QUOTE: “For many years, millions of illegal aliens have committed fraud in our immigration system. No place is this more rampant than in immigration court.” – DHS General Counsel James Percival
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