A new federal rule lets US immigration officers send more than 444,000 asylum seekers straight to deportation court without an interview, stripping away a screening step that people who applied legally have relied on for decades.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Department of Homeland Security agency that handles legal immigration, published the interim final rule on Monday and made it effective the next day. It removes a long-standing step in which trained asylum officers interviewed applicants before deciding their cases.
