OAN Staff Addie Davis
1:51 PM – Wednesday, May 27, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is directing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to crack down on false asylum claims, specifically focusing on immigration attorneys.
“Immigration attorneys representing illegal aliens frequently coach their clients to conceal their past and even outright lie in their asylum claims,” the department stated in a Tuesday press release.
“As a result of this directive, ICE attorneys have greater authority to enforce this law, including enforcement actions against immigration attorneys who file false asylum claims in an immigration court,” it continued.
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The department pointed to a U.S. law “that establishes penalties for violations of document fraud,” stating it had instructed ICE “to develop anti-fraud policies that will further enforce” it.
“For many years, millions of illegal aliens have committed fraud in our immigration system. No place is this more rampant than in immigration court,” said DHS General Counsel James Percival in the release.
“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,” he further alleged.
Percival noted that the agency would usually rely on “immigration judges and the enforcement of criminal fraud laws to deter this conduct, but ICE has its own tools.”
“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,” he continued.
The department claimed the current efforts are in alignment with President Donald Trump’s “commitment to restoring integrity to our immigration system,” and pointed to a past memorandum issued by Trump in March 2025, which contended that fraudulent asylum claims were frequently perpetuated and encouraged by attorneys.
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