Dec 23 (Reuters) – The Trump administration launched a nationwide campaign to void asylum claims of thousands of people with active cases in immigration courts by arguing that they can be deported to countries that are not their own, CBS News reported on Tuesday.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The White House, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The administration’s new tactic involves ICE attorneys asking immigration judges to dismiss asylum cases without hearing them on merits, the report said.
ICE attorneys have also asked the judges to order asylum-seekers to be deported to countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador and Uganda, the report added.
The report comes as President Donald Trump is preparing for a more aggressive immigration crackdown in 2026 with billions of dollars in new funding.
ICE and Border Patrol will get $170 billion in additional funds through September 2029 – a huge surge of funding over their existing annual budgets of about $19 billion after the Republican-controlled Congress passed a massive spending package in July.
(Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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