Motions to pretermit rising
- Immigration filings show a rise in 'motions to pretermit,' which ask judges to dismiss applications early without full hearings. - One social thread noted motions to pretermit reached roughly 22% of certain asylum filings in early 2026. - The uptick means more asylum claims may face quicker administrative dismissal, changing initial litigation and documentation strategies (x.com)
A growing share of asylum applicants in immigration court are now being targeted for dismissal before they ever get a full hearing. (bklg.org) In February 2026, more than 22% of asylum applicants who had a hearing faced a motion to pretermit, according to a March 16 report by Joseph Gunther and Brandon Marrow using immigration court data through the end of February. For applicants at later-stage individual hearings, the share was more than 36%. (bklg.org) A motion to pretermit asks an immigration judge to deny an asylum application without a merits hearing. The Executive Office for Immigration Review said in Policy Memorandum 25-28, issued April 11, 2025, that judges may pretermit legally deficient asylum applications when there are no factual disputes that require a hearing. (justice.gov) Human Rights First said pretermission has recently been happening at master calendar hearings or at the start of individual hearings, and that judges in some cases have used missed document deadlines or alleged gaps in Form I-589 as grounds to deny claims early. Its January 23, 2026 advisory said the most common current basis is an asserted “incompleteness” in the asylum form. (humanrightsfirst.org) The shift lands in a court system that is already carrying 3,318,099 active cases, with 2,322,671 immigrants waiting on asylum hearings or decisions as of the end of February 2026, according to Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse data. Immigration judges completed 67,908 deportation cases in February and issued 46,786 removal orders that month. (tracreports.org) Supporters inside the system have framed pretermission as docket control. The April 2025 memorandum said immigration judges have a duty to “efficiently manage their dockets” and should move to immediately resolve cases with no viable legal path to relief. (justice.gov) Advocates say the practice is changing how asylum cases are prepared because the fight now starts with the paperwork, not just the testimony. The Center for Gender and Refugee Studies said Department of Homeland Security lawyers have been filing motions in advance of hearings and sometimes orally on the hearing day, seeking denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and Convention Against Torture protection without a full hearing. (uclawsf.edu) The legal fight is not limited to incomplete forms. The Center for Gender and Refugee Studies said motions have also relied on asylum cooperative agreements and claims that applicants failed to show prima facie eligibility, and that if a judge grants the motion, the applicant can be ordered removed. (uclawsf.edu) The pace may already be shifting again. Gunther and Marrow reported that on March 12, 2026, Department of Homeland Security immigration lawyers received a national directive to stop filing new third-country pretermission motions, though the order did not address pending motions or cases already granted. (bklg.org) For asylum lawyers, that leaves two calendars running at once: the merits hearing on the books, and the risk that the case could be cut off before testimony begins. (humanrightsfirst.org)
