ICE ordered to ramp up cases against attorneys accused of filing false asylum claims

The Department of Homeland Security is directing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to craft new policies to crack down on immigration attorneys if they aid in filing fraudulent asylum claims. The move is the Trump administration’s latest effort to target asylum, the legal process by which those fleeing danger and persecution can seek protection in the United States. The DHS memo accuses immigration attorneys of “assert[ing] that virtually every illegal alien is going to be persecuted or tortured in his or her home country because of a protected characteristic like race or political opinion.” It tasks ICE with developing new fraud policies and would take “enforcement actions against immigration attorneys who file false asylum claims in an immigration court.” Attorneys are ethically obligated to provide accurate information in court proceedings and already could face disciplinary action if they fail to do so. Nonetheless, the press release cites the statute that establishes penalties for violations of document fraud. “Protection claims like asylum are intended to cover unique and narrow circumstances, but it is standard practice for immigration attorneys representing illegal aliens to assert that virtually every illegal alien is going to be persecuted or tortured in his or her home country. Historically, ICE has depended on the discipline of immigration judges and the enforcement of criminal fraud laws to deter this conduct, but ICE has its own tools,” James Percival, a general counsel for the department, said in a statement. “Now, thanks to this directive, ICE attorneys have greater authority to enforce the law and stop the abuse of our asylum system by illegal aliens and attorneys.” Heather Hogan, policy and practice counsel at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said the administration is “doubling down” on the incorrect assertion that immigration attorneys are coaching clients to provide false information in court. “The fraud that they’re going after, is not the fraud that’s happening,” Hogan said, noting that smuggling organizations may encourage migrants to seek asylum. “I think they’re conflating fraud and misrepresentation with cases that just don’t have a high likelihood of succeeding.” Hogan formerly worked as an asylum officer who reviewed cases, including many from Mexico and Central America, where applicants may be fleeing gangs or domestic violence. “They’re fleeing actual violence and actual serious harm, but it’s just that their claims don’t always neatly fit within the protected grounds under the U.S. asylum laws,” she said. The Trump administration has taken a number of actions to restrict asylum, with President Trump suspending access to the protection in his first term during the COVID pandemic and signing an executive order on the first day of his second term seeking to limit asylum. “It’s really clear from all of their different actions that they would really like to just shut down the asylum program altogether,” Hogan told The Hill. Updated at 4:54 p.m. EDT For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.