Fighting for a Day in Court: Understanding and Responding to Pretermission of Asylum Applications

Since 2025, immigration judges have been pretermitting asylum applications--often ordering asylum seekers removed without ever having a chance to have a hearing on their claims. This updated practice advisory addresses Board of Immigration Appeals precedent allowing immigration judges to pretermit cases based on allegedly incomplete I-589s (Matter of C-A-R-R-) and based on allegedly failing to state a prima facie claim for asylum (Matter of H-A-A-V-). The updated advisory discusses what practitioners are seeing in court, how these BIA decisions conflict with asylum seekers’ rights, and includes practical tips on how to fight this practice.