Trump plan to let USCIS deny year‑late asylum apps

The Trump administration is developing a plan that would allow U.S. immigration officials to reject some asylum applications without first interviewing the applicants, according to internal government documents. The proposed regulation would authorize officers with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to deny claims filed more than one year after an applicant entered the United States, placing those individuals directly into deportation proceedings.

Officials said the measure is one of several options under consideration to address a significant backlog in the asylum system. A USCIS spokesperson stated the agency is seeking to manage a backlog of over one million asylum cases, which the administration attributes to the previous administration's border policies. The spokesperson said the change would allow the agency to avoid wasting time on applications it would otherwise refer to immigration courts, enabling those individuals to have their claims heard by a judge.

Under current U.S. law, individuals are generally disqualified from asylum if they apply more than one year after entry, though exceptions exist for circumstances such as serious medical conditions or poor legal...